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""Identity theft expert shines light on common scams" Written by John Baldwin Spring 2008 Mace and Crown Newspaper: Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA
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baldwinmusic@yahoo.com
Virginia Senior Assistant Attorney General Gene Fishel came to speak about identity theft to ODU students, teachers and alumni on Thursday, March 5. “Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the United States,” said Fishel. He said that the most targeted age bracket is 18 to 29 because that is the age when people are beginning to establish credit. The most common type of identity theft for college students is credit card debt. Other types of identity theft are phone and utility fraud, bank fraud, and loan and benefit fraud. There are six basic methods of how people steal identities, according to the Federal Trade Commission: dumpster diving, skimming, phishing, changing addresses for credit card information, stealing and pretexting. Dumpster diving is when a person goes through trash and takes bills, credit card offers or anything else with personal information. Skimming is when a storage device is used to steal your credit or debit card number when it gets swiped, and popular places to do this are grocery stores, restaurants and gas stations. Phishing is when a person sends a pop-up message or email pretending to be a financial institution to get a reply with personal information. Another way people steal identities is to file a change of address form and get someone else’s bills sent to him or her instead. They also do it the old-fashioned way by stealing purses, wallets, mail, checkbooks or documents. Lastly, pretexting is when someone lies to get your information from your bank or other sources of transaction. Fishel offered hints to protect yourself from identity theft. “Get in the habit of checking your accounts daily,” said Fishel. “Monitor your credit card closely and get a credit card report every four months.” Equifax, Experian and Transunion all offer one free credit report per year. However, Fishel said the only foolproof method is to check your accounts daily. “I check my bank every day,” said ODU alumna Katie Manaugh. There is no statute of limitations to file a police report for identity theft, Fishel said. In 2006, 57 percent of identity theft victims had not reported the crime to credit reporting agencies, and 62 percent of victims had not reported the crimes to police. In Virginia, people who file a police reports will have their credit reports flagged for identity theft. In 2003, Virginia was the first state to enact a felony anti-spam statute. This was used to convict a notorious spammer from Raleigh, N.C. Virginia has jurisdiction to prosecute because half of the world’s internet traffic comes through AOL servers in Northern Virginia. Virginia is addressing identity theft legislation with four statues. The Identity Theft Act, enacted in 2003, makes it a felony to misuse personal information. The Database Breach Statute of 2006 makes it a felony, punishable for up to 10 years in prison, for unauthorized acquisition of 50 or more persons in the same transaction. The Computer Crimes Act combats computer fraud and trespass. The Phishing Statute fights spam, spyware, pharming, phishing, vishing and those emails that say you won $50 million from someone in South Africa. The latter, known as a “419 scam,” is hard to defeat because it originates overseas outside prosecutorial jurisdiction. As the world becomes more dependent on computers, the opportunity for identity theft is likely to continue to grow. Fishel recommended that social security and account numbers should be guarded constantly. “The key is to catch it early,” said Fishel. “Be vigilant.” He recommends checking accounts regularly. If you are a victim, file a police report, contact the credit reporting agencies, contact your banks and credit companies, and contact the Office of the Attorney General at www.vaag.com or the Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov. Read more about identity theft at the Federal Trade Commission Web site, www.ftc.gov.
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