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Cybercrime Special Report, Part 2: Protect your identity

By ALI HELGOTH and MARIANNE KOBAK - Staff Writers
Friday, April 11, 2008 12:32 PM PDT

Tips for creating a password - Use special characters as well as numbers and words - Do not use personal information such as a name, address or a date of birth - Do not use common words or words spelled backwards - Do not use words easily found in a dictionary

(Editor's note: This report is the second in a three-part series)

ELKO - People lock their doors to keep out burglars, yet may forget to secure their identities to protect themselves from cyber thieves.

Cybercrimes - such as identity theft, false criminal records, money scams - are preventable.

“You need to protect your identity and make sure it has not been compromised,” said Jill Perry, certified consumer credit counselor and Northern Nevada director for Consumer Credit Affiliates.

The easiest way people can protect their identities is to check their credit report on a regular basis, Perry said.

These reports can be checked every four months for free, Perry said. People should rotate between the three major credit bureaus they contact - Equifax, Experian and TransUnion - because the reports may be slightly different.

Truecredit.com also has a free service to check all three credit scores. The process is simple and shows everything from the score to which accounts are found under the user's name.

However, anyone who signs up for the credit check should not become upset when the system asks him or her to call customer service. It's just another security measure. When someone applies to see a credit report, the credit bureau will ask several questions over the phone to verify the applicant's identity.

Besides checking their credit report, people can request free fraud alerts from the three credit bureaus. Once a fraud alert is set, every time credit is applied for under that person's name, they will be contacted before the account is opened.

However, they must be diligent to guard against identity theft. Credit reports should be checked every three months and fraud alerts only last for 90 days, then a person must request a renewal.

“They can pretty much do it on their own, but we find people are sometimes overwhelmed,” Perry said.

People who don't feel secure on their own can contact reputable businesses to help, such as Pre-Paid Legal, LifeLock and Truecredit by TransUnion. All the services require a monthly payment.

Checking a credit report on a regular basis isn't the only way to stay secure.

Perry said Social Security numbers should not be on driver's licenses or any other form of identification and people should not carry their Social Security cards.

Also don't give personal information through the Internet unless it is a secure site. A secure site is identified by a lock in the upper right corner of the browser tool bar.

Elko Police Department Detective Sgt. Ty Trouten warned people not to open e-mails from unknown senders. Sometimes just the act of opening an e-mail is enough to unleash a virus, which can send itself to all the e-mail addresses in one's address box, he said.

Perry said sometimes identities are stolen for more than just money.

People convicted of non-cybercrimes may take someone's identity. Perry said one client's identity was stolen by a child molester.

“The worst case that I've heard was about a young woman in Fallon,” she said. “Her identity was stolen by a gentleman. He was caught, but after he was in jail for 30 days (the prosecuting) attorney contacted her and told her he was booked in jail under her Social Security number.”

In the end the Social Security office had to issue the woman a new number.

People also may steal identities to gain employment.

“Many people might say, ‘well, what's wrong with that, they're only using my information to work,' but it can cause many problems,” Perry said.

Someone who uses another person's name or Social Security number will compromise the victim through taxes and benefits.

“I've heard of people asking for retirement benefits and they're denied because someone is still working (and) using their number,” Perry said. “That could be tragic. We're seeing quite a bit of that.”

Another tip for identity protection is “never, ever give someone your ATM card to use,” Perry said. People shouldn't allow their siblings, children or anyone else to use their card.

If a fraud is committed, “the bank will ask, ‘have you ever allowed someone else to use your card' then you say ‘yes,' and now you've jeopardized your case,” Perry said. “It's better just to keep it to yourself.”

Consumer Credit Affiliates offers advice on credit protection for free and hosts classes, in Reno, on how to prevent identity theft. For information call 1-800-451-4505 or contact by Internet ccanevada.org.

Protection against scams

Remember the axiom if it's too good to be true it probably is.

A Spring Creek woman found out research, not diamonds, are a girl's best friend when it comes to out-smarting a lottery scam.

A person in Canada sent Glenda Mendive a letter that stated she won $45,000 from Reader's Digest and sent her a check for $3,960.

She said the scam artist asked her to send a MoneyGram for a little more than $2,000 and the remainder of the $45,000 would be sent back to her address.

Mendive said she was excited for a second and then looked up scams on the Internet, which told her about lottery swindlers. A victim of lottery fraud won't find out the check is bogus until 10 days after its deposited, but by then they've already sent money to the criminal.

Mendive said she understood why some people would be fooled by scams.

“It all looks very real,” she said. “They use Reader's Digest's name and the check has watermarks on it.”

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