There are so many identity theft scams that it would take a long time to list them all and each day there seem to be even more.  When it comes to identity theft scams the scammer will use a variety of “hooks” to get you to fall for their scam.  Those hooks can include “you have won a prize”, “you are being considered for a great job”, or “someone died and left you a fortune.”  Here are just some of the many identity theft scams that are making their rounds.

The Lottery Winner

In this scam you will either receive a phone call or a letter telling you that you have won some foreign lottery that you do not even remember entering.  This should be the first red flag.  They then proceed to tell you that all they need is your address and name to make the check out too and for tax purposes they are going to need your Social Security number.  What this identity theft scammer is hoping is that the person they contacted is greedy enough to let them in the front door, so to speak and be able to steal your personal information.
You are Hired

You know that you have put your resume on various online job-seeking websites but have not been interviewed nor offered a job so how can you be ready to be hired.  When the company calls you to let you know that they would love to hire you for a fabulous position.  They fax you tax forms and a job application and all you have to do is fill them, return them, and you get the job.  Unfortunately this company is also asking you for personal information.  This should give you some indication that it is very possible that this is a scammer or identity thief and you should not give them any personal information.
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This type of identity theft is also known as The Silent Swindler.  It will typically happen when the identity theft uses either a mixture of real and fake or totally fake information in order to create for themselves a new identity. Typically the identity thief will use a real Social Security number with a different or fake name that is associated with that number. This type of identity theft is difficult to tract, report, and detect since the individuals were not aware of it happening.

The reason that the individual is not aware of it happening is that it does not appear on your credit report.  It is a combination of addresses, names, Social Security numbers and more so all this information does not ad up to a single person to claim fraud but a combination of different people.  Most of these will go unreported and eventually will be written of and become charge offs within the financial institution before anyone is aware of the problem.

You can protect yourself from Synthetic Identity Theft by making sure that you shred sensitive documents and mail because identity thieves have no problem going through your trash to find any type of personal information that they can use to steal your identity.  When you get those Social Security benefits booklets make sure that the income that is reported is accurate and there are no discrepancies.

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Many people are taking advantage of online shopping because it is easy and convenient.  You do not have to leave the house, fight the crowd in the store, fight for a parking spot and deal with rude store clerks.  When you decide to shop online there are some things that you should remember to make it a safe experience.

You should always know who you are buying from and if it is a store that you have not shopped at before make sure that you take some time to research the store to see what other customers have to say about their experience shopping at this store.  You can even call the number for customer service and ask about their guarantees and policies.  If you cannot find a phone number send them an email and ask them these questions and any others you might have before you buy anything from them.

Make sure that the store’s website is encrypted so any personal and financial information is secure before it is sent over the internet.  One way to make sure that the site is encrypted is to make sure that the website address begins with “https” and not “http” before you hit the send button.  The “S” on the end of “http” means that the site is secure and it is safe to send your personal and financial information.
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When you buy anything over the phone or online they want to know your credit card number and the three digit security code on the back of your credit card.  If we do not do this the only other option is to mail the company a money order or check and add extra time for the check to clear before it is shipped.  With so much talk about identity theft, you want to make sure that you are not going to become a victim if you give out your credit card information.  You want to make sure that you have credit card protection from becoming a victim.

Here are some tips to follow to help prevent identity theft from giving your credit card number out.

• A very simple first rule is never give your credit card number to anyone who calls you no matter what story they give you why they need this number even if they tell you that they are not trying to sell you anything and that they are only trying to verify some information.
• If you get an email that asks you to visit a certain website or make a phone call to verify your credit card information do not respond to either one because an honest business will not ask you to do either one.
• Identity thieves like to send out emails pretending to be from some well known store so if you get any offer via email be suspicious.  Often the email will contain a phone number that actually belongs to the identity thief and not the store so if you do you will be giving your credit card information to an identity thief.

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There are many times when you may be out shopping and see something that you want to buy but are not sure if you have the money in the bank so you whip out your Smartphone to check your bank balance but is that a smart thing to do?  Are you safe from being hacked and having an identity thief get your personal information and cleaning out your bank account?  There are some people who are nervous about using their Smartphone for online banking and will use a credit card for the purchase instead of checking their balance via their Smartphone.

Here are some things that you should and should not do to make using your Smartphone for your online banking needs.

Do….

• Make sure that you stick to using your bank’s apps for mobile banking.  If there are any well-reviewed and trusted third-party personal finance apps you can use them instead.  These you can download directly from the app store for your Smartphone type.
• Look at your phone as a personal computer and you will be able to minimize your risks of identity theft or being hacked. One thing that you can do is for identity theft protection is to install antivirus software on your Smartphone just like you would do for your laptop or computer.
• Make sure that you keep track of your Smartphone and know where it is. If you keep it in your purse make sure that it cannot fall out or that no one can steal it from your purse.  When you are out and about check often to make sure that you have your Smartphone with you.

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