How to thwart those who would victimize you

Long ago, in a land far away, you didn’t have to do much to hide your identity. People who dealt with Clark Kent hourly would suddenly lose all memory of his facial features when he took off his glasses. Don Diego lived in mortal fear that one day someone would yank off Zorro’s small eye mask and recognize him as the guy who lives next door.

All that has changed now. Not only do people want to know who you are, they want to BE you so they can use your good name to run up your credit cards, drain your bank account and even commit crimes — all the repercussions of which will land on your doorstep. Identity theft affects about 14 million Americans a year, and the number is growing.

Fortunately, not every case of identity theft is dire, but some cases cost their victims thousands of dollars and hundreds of frustrating hours — not to mention the potential for events like the loss of a job when a prospective employer finds out your credit score is in the basement or the loss of your dream house or car when the bank where you apply for a mortgage or car loan does the same.

Several (relatively) easy steps can make it harder for someone to steal your identity and easier for you to catch a problem early if one arises. If you catch a problem so late that a great deal of damage has already been done, you should consult an attorney, your bank, a financial advisor — whoever you can enlist to help you through the complex path to reclaiming your good name. It’s better, of course, to catch identity theft early so the steps to correcting the problem are simpler — or to prevent it altogether.

What identity thieves most want is your Social Security number, so protect that at all costs (I recently saw an accident report form for a rental car company that asked for it), but they’re also very interested in things like:

   •    credit card numbers

   •    bank account numbers

   •    mailing address

   •    driver’s license number

   •    birth date

   •    home address and phone number

Obviously, some of this is pretty easy to get, so protect the things that are less easy.

RULE #1:

KNOW WHOM YOU’RE TALKING TO.

Never give information to anyone — whether by phone, in person or on the computer — when you did not initiate the contact. If you receive a call from a very nice lady who reminds you of your dear grandmother, soliciting donations to a cause that helps starving children, homeless kittens and injured puppies, the last thing you should do is to give this stranger any personal information, like your credit card or bank account number. If she’s legit, she won’t mind if you ask that materials be mailed to you or ask for the name of the organization and check it out online before calling the number yourself to make your donation.

If you receive an e-mail from your bank or credit card company or anyone else who says there’s a problem with your account and asks you to click a link or call a number so you can verify personal information or passwords, do anything but click that link or call that number, even if the e-mail looks legitimate. It’s easy for scammers to copy logos and the “look” of the company’s website, so if you click the link, you’ll go to what looks like the website but isn’t; it’s just a way for the identity thieves to steal the information they need to access your accounts. Call the institution and let them know you received the e-mail so they can notify their fraud department.

RULE #2:

DO THE BORING STUFF.

Check your credit card statements and bank statements for unfamiliar charges every month, not once every six months. If you don’t have the patience to balance everything down to the penny, at least check for charges and withdrawals you didn’t authorize. Get a free copy of your credit report annually from www.annualcreditreport.com and check for inaccurate information, especially accounts you didn’t open and unfamiliar addresses. You can also get a free credit report more than once a year if you ask for one after having been denied credit, insurance or employment within 60 days.

RULE #3:

SHRED, SHRED, SHRED.

Shred bills, bank statements, credit card statements, pre-approved loan or credit card applications and anything else you throw away that has account numbers or personal information on it.

RULE #4:

CHOOSE GOOD PASSWORDS.

Oh, the inconvenience of passwords. Until they devise a better way for us to identify ourselves online, we’re going to have to put up with passwords. But remember: The only thing between your bank account and a thief is that password. Think about how easy it would be for a thief simply to set up a payment account on your bill-paying service and send himself or herself all the money in your account! See the box for some good tactics for creating PINs and passwords that will be easy for you to remember but difficult for a thief to figure out.

If you manage to do this much, you’ve gone a long way toward preventing identity theft. Identity thieves may be determined, but if you make it hard for them, they’ll likely move on to an easier victim. 

Here are a few more tricks you can use to foil the tricksters:

•Receive and pay bills online so you don’t have paper bills lying around in your mailbox. If a lock doesn’t secure your mailbox, pick up your mail promptly after it’s delivered, and consider mailing your bill payments at the post office, rather than leaving them in your mailbox.

•Don’t carry your Social Security card or number with you.

•Block others’ view when you type in your PINs or credit card numbers in a public place.

•Instead of signing the back of your credit card, write “see photo ID” so anyone who uses it will have to provide a driver’s license or other photo ID.

•When you dispose of a computer system or hard drive, make sure the data is completely destroyed.

•Limit the information printed on your checks. It may save you a couple of minutes not to have to write down your driver’s license number or phone number, but you’re making it too easy for thieves if that information is preprinted. Never, never, ever have your Social Security number printed on your checks.

•Before you have workers and other strangers in the house, be sure you’ve put your personal records, PINs and other personal information out of sight. Treat this stuff like jewelry.

Identity thieves constantly come up with new ways to get the information they need, and there’s no one way to thwart every attempt. But, as with Superman and Zorro, it may be that you need to make only a little effort to hide yourself from them.