Are We Giving Out Too Much Personal Information on the Internet?

identity-theft, originally uploaded by glenn.mcknight.

My sister sends a frantic email indicating that we need to keep things we post on the Internet more private.  It seems that her ex is causing some issues, so she wants all of us to be more aware.  I tried explaining to her that if someone wanted to find out all this information on me, even if I wasn’t on the Internet, they could.  Her response?

“Why make it easier for them?”

My only response was, “They already can.”

To appease her, I made my Geni as private as I could.  However, I said to her that I am an open book and don’t have crazy psychos stalking me (or not that I am aware of), so I really could care less what people do or don’t find out about me.  She still kept insisting that someone could just go to Social Security Administration (SSA) with your parents’ name and fake ID and get your information.

If this is the case, then every friend and ex-partner can just go to SSA and claim my identity.  Don’t get me wrong.  I know that Identity Theft is a huge problem, but this privacy that people try to have on the Internet is insane because it doesn’t work.  If the person is a little tech savvy, he/she can find out all that he/she needs.

Am I wrong to think this way?  Should we be super private about all everything in our lives?  Or should we not care about sharing photos, information, etc.?

How to Protect Your Family from Identity Theft

You hear about it on the news and on commercials: Identity Theft.  

According to the Federal Trade Commission, ten million people fall victim to identity theft a yea. Can you believe that? There are only about 300 million people in the United States. What’s worse is that they are now starting to target children. I had it happen to me a year ago. They used it to buy all these crazy items on the Internet. How did I feel? I felt invaded and lost. It was a sickening feeling to have someone use my private information for his or her pleasure.

What is Identity Theft?

Identity theft occurs when a person uses another person’s identifying information (e.g. name, Social Security number, credit card number, etc) without permission. This is usually used for fraud and to commit crimes. They usually do it to buy items (like what happened to me).

According to the Department of Justice, In one notorious case of identity theft, the criminal, a convicted felon, not only incurred more than $100,000 of credit card debt, obtained a federal home loan, and bought homes, motorcycles, and handguns in the victim’s name, but called his victim to taunt him — saying that he could continue to pose as the victim for as long as he wanted because identity theft was not a federal crime at that time — before filing for bankruptcy, also in the victim’s name. While the victim and his wife spent more than four years and more than $15,000 of their own money to restore their credit and reputation, the criminal served a brief sentence for making a false statement to procure a firearm, but made no restitution to his victim for any of the harm he had caused. This case, and others like it, prompted Congress in 1998 to create a new federal offense of identity theft.

How Do They Do It?

Identity thieves are able to find out your children’s information by the following methods:

1. Looking through Dumpsters – They find old bills, social security cards and pre-approved credit card offers
2. Skimming – They use a special storage device when processing your credit and debit cards
3. Phishing – Pretending to be a bank or other company that you trust
4. Changing Your Address – They change your billing statement to another location
5. Stealing – They do it the old-fashioned way
6. Day Care Centers – They ask for your child’s social security number

What Can I Do to Prevent this From Happening?

1. Shred all of your billing statements and pre-approved credit card offers
2. Destroy anything that has personal information on it if you are going to throw it in the trash
3. Do not give anyone personal information if you do not know who they are, even if they say they are from your bank
4. Call your financial institutions if you stop receiving billing statements
5. You can also get E-statements, and you save a few trees as well
6. Do not provide your child’s social security number or birth certificate to annoying without questioning it.
7. Don’t let anyone in your family carry a Social Security card
8. Look out for business mail arriving in your child’s name
9. Educate your children about privacy on the internet
10. Perform regular checks on your child’s credit report when you check your own. Federal law gives us access to one free credit report every year from the three major credit bureaus

They Already Stole My Child’s Identity!

If you think your child has become a victim of identity theft or fraud, act immediately!. These are references listed in the Department of Justice’s site:

1. Contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to report the situation, whether Online, by telephone toll-free at 1-877-ID THEFT (877-438-4338) or TDD at 202-326-2502, or by mail to Consumer Response Center, FTC, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580.
2. Your local office of the Postal Inspection Service if you suspect that an identity thief has submitted a change-of-address form with the Post Office to redirect your mail, or has used the mail to commit frauds involving your child’s identity;
3. The Social Security Administration if you suspect that your child’s Social Security number is being fraudulently used (call 800-269-0271 to report the fraud)
4. The Internal Revenue Service if you suspect the improper use of identification information in connection with tax violations (call 1-800-829-0433 to report the violations).
5. Call the fraud units of the three principal credit reporting companies:
   a. Equifax: To report fraud, call (800) 525-6285 or write to P.O. Box 740250, Atlanta, GA 30374-0250.
   b. Experian: Call (888) EXPERIAN or (888) 397-3742, fax to (800) 301-7196, or write to P.O. Box 1017, Allen, TX 75013.
   c. Trans Union: call (800) 680-7289 or write to P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92634.
6. Contact all creditors with whom your child’s name or identifying data have been fraudulently used.
7. Contact all financial institutions where you have accounts that an identity thief has taken over or that have been created in your child’s name but without your knowledge.
8. Contact the major check verification companies (listed in the CalPIRG-Privacy Rights Clearinghouse checklist) if you have had checks stolen or bank accounts set up by an identity thief. In particular, if you know that a particular merchant has received a check stolen from you, contact the verification company that the merchant uses:
    a. CheckRite — (800) 766-2748
    b. ChexSystems — (800) 428-9623 (closed checking accounts)
    c. CrossCheck — (800) 552-1900
    d. Equifax — (800) 437-5120
    e. National Processing Co. (NPC) — (800) 526-5380
    f. SCAN — (800) 262-7771
    g. TeleCheck — (800) 710-9898