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Virtual guard dog patrols doorways to identity theft
Chicago Tribune By Patrick Kamper Published November 12, 2006 You might say Andrew Wyant of Chicago did some early Christmas shopping for his wife and himself this year. He calls it " peace of mind." The gift is actually a new monthly bill to pay along with his cable TV, cell phone and utilities. But he has no complaints about shelling out about $10 a month to an Arizona company called Life-Lock, which essentially is insurance against identity theft. Wyant said his wife had her identity stolen several years ago, and he saw the ordeal that ensued. " It's those incredible hours you have to spend undoing problems and constantly calling places and figuring out what happened," said the 38-year old management consultant from the Roscoe Village neighborhood. When hotel owners--not just employees--were charged with stealing and selling their customers' identities a week ago in the Joliet area, the gasp from consumers was almost audible. Hot on the heels of that investigation came news that yet another major corporation--in this case, Starbucks--couldn't find some laptops containing information on 60,000 employees. And then the company waited a couple of weeks before telling anyone. Oops. Identity theft is the " Achilles' heel" of the information age, says LifeLock founder Todd Davis, because we can't function in society without our personal information becoming public. " My employer has to have my Social Security number to pay me benefits. I can't get medical treatment until I give them my information. I have to give my credit card to the waiter or waitress," Davis said. Davis and former executives from Visa and Bank of America formed the Arizona-based company LifeLock to put some semblance of a cork in the country's leaky information faucet. Although a few similar companies have popped up--and some insurance companies have added identity-theft protection to homeowners coverage--LifeLock acts like a watchdog on your activity at the four major credit reporting agencies. LifeLock arranges it so that you are notified for your approval if you or someone else is trying to open a new credit card, equity line, cell-phone contract, etc. It does this by putting " fraud alerts" on all your accounts, which have to be renewed every 90 days, and then monitoring them for any suspicious activity. Jay Foley, executive director of the non-profit Identity Theft Resource Center (idtheftcenter.org), says that, although there is no sure way to prevent identity theft, the relatively new LifeLock is fascinating " as a discovery tool" for the way it works with fraud alerts. The problem, he said, is that consumers control only about 20 percent of the personal information that's out there; businesses control the other 80 percent and aren't nearly as diligent as consumers in protecting that info. Kristen Gehrig, director of global marketing for Fellowes Inc. in Itasca, the leading shredder manufacturer, said few states--and Illinois is not one of them--require destruction of documents. Although several federal laws mandate safeguards for customer privacy, only the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act approved in June 2005 requires businesses to destroy certain types of consumer information. " But what we found in our research," she said, " is that 87 percent of small businesses are not aware of FACTA." Although e-mail phishing scams (in which crooks pose as banks, credit-card firms or retailers like eBay) have lessened because of widespread publicity, Foley said new tactics include e-mails urging people to call toll-free numbers to verify their financial information, as well as direct calls to consumers warning them that they failed to show up for jury duty and then asking them for alternative court dates--and Social Security numbers. But a study released last August by Foley's center and Fellowes showed that only 9 percent of identity theft comes from electronic information. The age group victimized the most by identity theft is 18- to 29-year-olds, Gehrig said. As the group goes to college and starts receiving pre-approved credit-card applications, " they're just not checking their credit reports regularly," she said. If you do become a victim of identity theft, prepare for a lot of work. A 2004 study by Foley's center found that, on average, it takes a person 330 hours to undo the damage. LifeLock founder Davis is so confident he won't have to go through that ordeal that he even gives out his Social Security number--457-55-5462--as a dare to identity thieves; he says he'll get a call if anyone tries to use it. " That transaction is going to be stopped dead in its tracks, and the thief is going to move on to somebody else." Wyant noted that LifeLock isn't doing anything he couldn't do himself but believes the time considerations made it a no-brainer to sign up. Davis said corporate America has dragged its heels about encrypting its data and that legislators have been just as slow in requiring businesses to take that step. Whether they sign up for a service such as LifeLock or do the work themselves, he said consumers have to take the initiative; more than half of the country's identity thefts occur when an employer or someone you do business with has compromised your data. " The idea that you can hide your information to protect yourself? Those days are gone," Davis said. Tips can help keep a lock on your identity Seems like both the virtuous and the villainous have long to-do lists this time of year. " Between October and January, we always see a spike in identity theft, and that's because criminals are Christmas shopping too," said Sandra Hoffman, director of the Identity Theft Partnership in Prevention program at Michigan State University. The holiday season is when we are the most distracted, Hoffman said, " even taking risks online we might not normally take in pursuit of that perfect gift." LifeLock founder Todd Davis said holiday e-mail invitations can even be dangerous. Some criminals, he said, have created invitation sites that pass along viruses that monitor your keystrokes looking for Social Security or credit card numbers. If you do send out an eVite, he said, " make sure it's a known site like Hallmark; don't just search for free ones you never heard of before." When out shopping, you can take steps to minimize your chances of identity theft this holiday season. Jay Foley, executive director of the Identity Theft Resource Center, shares some tips: Use a credit card, not a debit card, to make purchases. It's easier to get a fraudulent credit-card charge erased than it is to get a bank to restore funds to your bank account. Carry one credit card; leave the rest at home. " It's easier to close one credit card than it is to close six, and it's less damaging in the long run," Foley said. Be aware of your surroundings. If you're opening a new credit account, don't do it at a register or counter where strangers can overhear you talking about your information. Watch for people looking at your credit card as it's being passed to or from the clerk. Watch your card every moment that the clerk has it so it's not " skimmed" by a dishonest store employee. Put your credit receipt in your wallet or purse, not in the bag with the item. " Most credit card receipts are truncated, but the last thing you want is somebody to do a quick dip [in your bag], and they've got it." |
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