'Tis the season for identity theft

 

'Tis the season for identity theft.

By Jef Henninger, Esq.

 

For many of us, the holidays can be chaotic. For identity thieves, it is the perfect time to strike because everyone is so distracted with parties, gifts and vacations. Although identity theft appears to be receiving more attention than ever, much of the advice dispensed by the media is repetitive and incomplete. Since several books can be written about identity theft it is impossible to give you all of the tips to protect yourself. Thus, this article will give you the most important tips that you may not get anywhere else so that you have a happy and safe holiday season.

 

Although much of the hype about identity theft focuses on the Internet, a majority of identity theft still occurs in the real world. It thus follows that many identity thieves are among us and not in some foreign county a half a world away. Any criminal defense lawyer knows that business tends to pick up right around the holidays. The pressure to buy gifts and create a nice holiday for your family is not exclusive to law biding citizens. This pressure can motivate crooks and allow desperate people to justify out of the ordinary behavior. To many people, identity theft is an easy, non-violent way to solve their problems.

 

Crowded malls are an excellent spot for pick pockets. This is nothing new. While the pick pocket from twenty years ago would ditch your wallet after taking just your cash, the pick pocket of today may be after your identification and your credit cards. All the usual precautions should be taken. Keep an eye on all of your belongings at all times. To minimize the headache of identity theft, only have one or two credit cards with low credit limits. Keep cards with higher limits at home, safely locked up.

 

Many stores offer a variety of savings for opening store credit cards. However, you may be trusting your credit card application with a person who does not have much to lose in terms of a career. These stores do little in the way of background checks in the first place. The rush to fill countless seasonal positions may lead retailers to get hire just about anyone. Chance is, you won't realize your identity has been stolen for months after you fill out your application. By that time, this seasonal employee is long gone. If you must have one of these cards, you may want to apply online instead.

 

If your wallet is stolen you may need to do more than just cancel your cards. You may want to put a three month freeze on your credit reports. This will prevent anyone, including you, from opening new accounts.

 

While identity theft on the Internet is hyped, it certainly does happen and to a great extent. Holiday shoppers are more likely to become victims due to the pressure to buy hot gifts such as the new hard to find game console, cheap laptops or the toy of year. Don't throw common sense out the window if you suddenly find yourself able to get that hard to find gift from a website you've never heard of before. Instead of getting the gift you wanted, you'll be stuck with a lot of charges you didn't authorize.

 

Everyone knows that spam is annoying, but most people don't seem to understand its real purpose. The "enhancements" that are commonly for sale aren't usually sold. Instead of getting those little blue pills, you will be getting a lot of other problems. The reason why these pills are marketed through spam is because they are something a lot of people want but are difficult to get. During the holidays, good deals and hot gifts are sought after. Getting an email offering that hard to find gift at a good price is hard to pass up for some. A good rule of thumb to follow is that if you are getting email from a company you have never done business before, delete it right away without opening it. Spammers rely on thousands of infected computers to do their dirty work for them, so even if you don't buy anything from them, opening their email may help them steal the identity of others.

 

eBay. has done a lot to protect its members. Most people know the basics to remain safe but you have to do more than just check the feedback of the seller. When you buy or sell anything, you should limit the currency you give or receive to paypal or a similar service. Any other form of currency could open you up to serious problems. Do not give your credit card number over the phone or through email to a seller. Do not accept wire transfers or personal checks. While it may sound obvious, you must make sure that you actually won the item and that the seller did not cancel the item shortly before it as over. I have had clients that received emails that made it appear that the auction ended properly. They pay the seller and the item never comes. Even though the item started on eBay, it will be considered an outside sale. Thus, you cannot take advantage of eBay's dispute resolution process and other protections.

 

The fat-finger scam works much like the phone scam with the same name. You type in a web address to go to a store but you mistype a letter or two and you wind up somewhere else. While larger retailers typically account for this and reroute you the correct site, small, but legitimate retailers may not have this ability. Usually, it is obvious you are in the wrong place, but this is not always the case. The casual consumer may not understand that a fake website can be easily created to look like the real deal. To protect yourself, follow links from reputable website or type the name of the store into a search engine and follow that link.

 

These tips will help the holiday shopper stay safe but there is a lot more to learn to protect yourself from identity theft during the entire year. The Federal Trade Commission website (www.FTC.gov) is a good place to start. Even more important then protecting yourself is how to respond when you have been the victim. The FTC also provides good advice on how to deal with credit card companies and what it takes to prove to them that you are in fact a victim. However, if you do not discover the fraud in a timely manner and the credit card companies charge off the account, the collection agency that comes after you can be very difficult to deal with. If this happens, it may be time to at least consult with an attorney.