Sudden Increase In Identity Theft……Protection and Defense

Our comments and ideas many times come from you……. So thanks in advance……When we see multiple issues of similar nature coming to the forefront, especially given our 20+ United States reach of clients and friends, we sit up and take note.

Identity theft is back on the rise

While we are not sure what the reasoning, we have had multiple contacts recently experiencing identity theft and other malicious events. The good news is  none of our contacts have lost any money, only inconvenienced.

As a former triple complete identity theft victim (not lost a penny), I can vouch for the troubles that such an experience can have. Multiple times my credit cards have been completely and embarrassingly shut off due to security concerns. I have never complained to my carrier as the alternative is not something I want to even think about.

Popular Identity Theft Techniques

Here is what were a seeing in order of magnitude relating to financial issues:

• Outright clone/theft of an individual (Usually involves a credit card issuer, but can be a complete attempted cloning)
• Opening of new fabricated credit lines (Thief attempts to open a line of credit in another person’s name)
• Email hijacking (Loss of control of ones email, thereby opening prior email messages to malicious review)

 Preventative Measures for Identity Theft

While there is no 100% certain way to complete prevention, here are a few good ideas for safety along with some recommendations for future use:

• Monitor your credit lines and if you see suspicious activity, act swiftly (We have even learned of a code word some credit carriers are using for additional security…great idea)
• If you have an issue consider a credit monitoring service for 6-12 months (Careful as these services can be expensive)
• Do not send your social and passwords with the names in the body of the email (If you send an email that says, here is my social in the heading, you are asking for trouble. If this situation arises out of necessity send it without the descriptive term…better yet, call!)
• Change all of your passwords occasionally, make them hard, and use a symbol (There are only 26 letters in the alphabet adding a symbol increases your protection)
• Use common sense…If in doubt, or your suspicious flag is raised, take a moment to make sure all is correct before you move forward
• Do not be paranoid, but do be suspicious…it may save you trouble

Usually we warn and remind of potential issues when schools lets out for the summer as we have experienced the most issues during this time….idle minds…Recently, for some reason there has been a spike in activity early this year….so keep your eyes, ears, and fingers open and alert!

Have a Great Monday!

JK

PS A $10 misspelled cookie word last week…self inflicted and caught…RATS!!!

PSS Rock and Roll was never supposed to be this cold….brrrrr on Sunday…and very sore….must have asked too much in Friday’s post

PSSS Cyprus…..the little country that could disrupt, looks to give markets an upward push….puzzlingly good!

PSSSS Playing Mr. Mom much of the day as the wife has a sick relative….working from home much of the day!