Identity Theft: Stay Educated- Tip of the Week

Do Not Give Out Personal Information To Anybody Over Phone, Mail Or Internet. 

Unless you have initiated the contact, in which case you can be sure of the person at the other end, don’t give people sensitive personal or financial information, not even to somebody claiming to be calling from your bank (your bank will already have the info). They may ask for a piece of identifying information, last four-digits of your Social Security number or part of an account number, but they shouldn’t be asking for every little detail. If someone calls you to offer credit cards or any other offer, ask them to provide you with a written application. If your bank or any other financial institution calls you and begins asking more information than you’re comfortable giving out simply hang up and call them directly and then ask about why they were calling to make sure it is a legitimate request.

Be aware of this same issue through your email. If you receive an email from your bank, credit card company, or insurance company, etc.,  and the body of the email asks you to click on a link or reply with specific information because they need to confirm certain data or they claim there is an issue, DO NOT DO IT! It is possible that this could be a phishing email in which case it is a scam for someone to access your personal data. If you receive an email like this call the customer service line for the company the email appears to have come from and ask them about it. If you discover that the email is a scam, give the company you contact the information in the email so that they can investigate who is posing as them. You should also delete the email immediately. 

This happened to me a couple years ago. I received a strange email from my credit card company saying that there were suspicious  charges on my card and to click the link in the email to confirm my information. Luckily I always prefer dealing with an actual person than relying on a machine of sorts so I contacted my credit card company. The customer service agent informed me that they never contact their customers that way, and the email was a scam.  She also told me that if I had clicked on that link, it would have given whoever sent the email direct access into my computer's files, or any other device I used to open the email, from basically anywhere. 

For more information visit us at www.conroyassociates.com

Identity Theft: Stay Educated- Type 6

Insurance Identity Theft

Insurance identity theft, while technically in its won bracket, is closely linked to other forms of identity theft. It is, if you will, a melting pot of identity thieving bliss as it is not only related to other ID theft forms, but causes many problems of its own.

If other forms of your information are compromised  such as a drivers license or social security card, it is possible that your insurance data may be stolen as well. This issue has come about in more recent years due to the increasing number of illegal immigrants entering and living in the United States. If these individuals choose to acquire identification, it may also come with a social security card and an insurance card; these cards may be legitimate forms of someone else's data, as those already exist they are more easily obtained.

In 2011 a Nevada D.M.V employee was arrested on charges of federal bribery for selling drivers licenses to illegal immigrants. By providing drivers licenses, this Nevada woman opened a Pandora's box of problems for all the individuals whose information was used on the fake identification cards. As stated before, this issue can lead or be linked to medical identity theft, as well as other forms of insurance.So, why would an identity thief be concerned about insurance? Simply put, medical care is one of the hottest commodities the United States currently has, which has a lot to do with why the Federal government wants control of the industry. Getting healthcare is high on most people’s priority lists, and this is true regardless of legal status. For many, using someone else’s insurance information to get medical services is the only option available. (And just to be clear, it is not exclusively illegal immigrants who do this, although that demographic is the bulk of the problem.)  With that being said, please keep in mind that regardless of an individual's need to use someone else's insurance information for their own benefit, it is extremely dangerous for everyone involved. As discussed in a previous post, medical identity theft  is severely dangerous. Please see Identity Theft: Stay Educated- Type & Tip 1 for details on medical identity theft. 

A victim of insurance identity theft will first face fraudulent claims against their legitimate policy. Sadly, this can be overlooked until the policy has reached its “cap” – the maximum amount the policy will pay out. Then the policy is cancelled. The cancellation notice is often the first the insured hears of the problem, and then (of course) it’s too late to do anything besides argue with the insurance company. It can be “iffy” when it comes to getting the problem resolved, too. And while you’re debating with the insurance company about whether or not it is possible for you to be going to hospitals or driving in several states at the same time, you will most likely find that other insurance companies will refuse to give you coverage.

That is the specific reason insurance identity theft has earned its own category. Not being able to get insurance isn’t really a financial problem, and it isn't really medical identity theft either, because it gives the victim a whole new set of problems that may be unrelated to either of those issues, while still giving him or her plenty of headaches and worries.


For more information visit us at www.conroyassociates.com

Identity Theft: Stay Educated- Tip of the Week

Take Preemptive Measures
Being a victim of criminal identity theft can put you in a serious bind. Unfortunately, despite preventative measures it can still be difficult to prove your innocence depending on the circumstances. However, it is still better to do what you can to protect yourself.

Get yourself fingerprinted. If your fingerprints are already on file, it will take less time for authorities to determine that you are who you claim to be. You can get this done at post offices, some UPS stores, or other government agencies. Try searching for Live Scan locations in Google or your preferred search engine.

Go to the DMV and have them run your driver's license. You can tell from their records whether or not there are any discrepancies associated with your driving record.  If you find anything on your record that you know is incorrect, you can begin to work with the DMV to correct the inconsistencies. Make sure you keep meticulous records of any driving citations so that you can easily determine whether or not what shows on your record was put there by you or someone posing as you.

If you feel that your identity has been stolen, consider having a background check done on yourself. A basic background will turn up a lot of your information, including if someone else is using your social security number. Hire a private investigator to do this and discuss with him/her your concerns and what would be your best options. A private investigator can also run a criminal check, but keep in mind that each county has their own records so again discuss with the investigator you hire what the best course of action would be for your personal situation.

For those of you who have siblings or close relatives with questionable behavior traits that concern you, keep a close eye on your ID and information. This includes expired identification cards; make sure you shred them once they expire and you have a new one.

For more information visit us at www.conroyassociates.com.

Identity Theft: Say Educated- Type 5

Character/Criminal Identity Theft
This type of identity theft is just as difficult as medical identity theft in terms of resolution. Like medical identity theft, criminal identify theft has a way of coming back to haunt you, even after you have taken care of the problem. if an individual with a shady background obtains your identification with the intent of using it as an alias or cover, it may be to commit some type of crime. if you are unaware of this happening to you, it could cause issues with your job, home, anything you own, and your driving record. When dealing with criminal identity theft, expect a lot of skepticism. Police are told "it wasn't me" almost every day, and it is their job to confirm the information they have and conduct an investigation for new information. Hopefully you get a decent lawyer and the evidence points in your favor. 

Criminal identify theft is most common amongst  siblings. For example, the shooter responsible for the tragedy in Connecticut in December of last year was carrying his brother's identification at the time. According to USA Today, "The suspect in the Connecticut shooting, Adam Lanza, 20, was apparently carrying his older brother Ryan's identification, setting off a media mixup that propelled Ryan's Facebook photo onto the Internet tens of thousands of times as the purported shooter and prompting him to post a plaintive plea: 'It wasn't me'."

Granted, this extreme incident is rare, and it is more likely that individuals use their siblings IDs to commit smaller crimes, or assume their sibling's ID in order to avoid problems from their own past. This is most likely to occur when siblings are young, between teen years to thirties. This will mostly likely take shape in one of two ways.

 For example, lets say Eric has been caught doing something wrong and is brought to a police station to be booked and fingerprinted. Despite modern technology, it takes some time to process the fingerprints  so when Eric is released on bail he uses his brothers ID in the meantime. 

The other way that this could go is worse; for example, now lets say Eric has never been fingerprinted before, but he goes and does it while using his brother, Shane's ID and information.  Now Eric turns around and commits some type of crime using Shane's ID. A warrant is now issued for Shane's arrest, who is probably unaware that anything is wrong, and when he is booked his own fingerprints will be taken. Unfortunately, he has to sit in jail until the situation is resolved and the fingerprints do not come back as a match. 

The worst case with this type of occurrence involves petty theft. Let's say Amanda is caught stealing while using her sister, Michelle's, ID and the overall amount of whatever she stole is less than $400.00. There isn't enough room in jails to hold people caught for such small crimes so instead of being arrested and booked, Amanda is issued a citation, under Michelle's name, that sys she has to appear for court, get her picture taken, etc. Now, Amanda doesn't appear for court and a warrant is issued for Michelle's arrest. If Michelle gets pulled over on the road, or for whatever reason the police run her ID, they would see the warrant and a fine for contempt of court and arrest her on the spot. Let's say worst case scenario, it's Friday, so Michelle has to sit in jail through the weekend, but Monday is a holiday so now she cant even begin to do anything until Tuesday. Now if Amanda skipped town or keeps her mouth shut about being the actual thief, then Michelle has to hope that she has someone who can verify her whereabouts, or that the initial officers who wrote the citation don't recognize her as being the thief since the only information the authorities have to go on is Michelle's identification, date of birth, and social security number as Amanda was not booked and fingerprinted after being caught. In the worst cases of this happening, the sibling whose identity was used has a very difficult task of proving their innocence; if this takes a while then they're sitting in jail the whole time, have probably lost their job, and everyone is thinking they're a criminal while their guilty sibling is sitting pretty. 

As unfair and ridiculous as it may seem, criminal identity theft is quite common and, in many cases, goes way beyond standard sibling rivalries. 

For more information visit us at www.conroyassociates.com

How to Keep Your Facebook Secure

Everyone likes to be social; and with a wide variety of social networking sites from which to choose, it is very easy to connect with friends, make other cyber connections, and share the exciting  (or not) things going on in our lives. Despite the enjoyment some get from the sharing of personal information,  its important to remember that we all need to protect our privacy. Here are some simple tips to make sure that your Facebook account is as secure as possible. Please keep in mind that these suggestions may not be plausible for everyone depending on your reasons for using the social networking sites. For more information visit us at www.conroyassociates.com and check out www.hetheringtongroup.com.

About Facebook Apps
Do not login to or link third-party sites (e.g. Twitter, Bing, LinkedIn) using your Facebook account. “Facebook Connect” shares your information, and your friends’ information, with third party sites that may aggregate and misuse personal infor- mation.
Also, use as few apps as possible. Apps such as Farmville access and share your personal data.
Edit your profile by changing all the
options to Only Me (most secure) or Friends On 

Editing Your Privacy Settings
1) ControlYourDefaultPrivacy–Change to Friends Only 
2) HowYouConnect
a. Who can look you up using your e-mail or phone number? - Friends
b. Who can look you up using the email address or phone number you provided? - Friends
c. Who can send you friend requests? - Friends of Friends
d. Who can send you Facebook messages? - Friends 
3) TimelineandTagging
a. Who can post on your Timeline? - Friends
b. Who can see what others post on you timeline? -Friends
c. Review posts friends tag you in before they appear on your timeline- On
d. Who can see posts you've been tagged in on your timeline?- Friends

e. Review tags friends add to your own posts on Facebook - On
f. Who sees tag suggestions when photos that look like you are uploaded? – Friends
4) Ads, Apps and Websites
a. Apps you use – Limit use of Apps
b. How people bring your info to apps they use – Uncheck all boxes
c. Instant personalization – Disable Personalization
d. Public Search – Disable Public Search
e. Ads >subpages>Ads shown by third parties – No one 
f. Ads >subpages>Ads and friends – No one
5) Limit the Audience for Past Posts – Limit the Old Posts to Friends Only

6) Blocked People and Apps–Here you can block certain people, events and game invites. 

P.S. If you’ve had enough fun
To deactivate your Facebook account, go to Account Settings and select Security. Click on the link 'Deactivate your account'.
To reactivate your account log in to Facebook with your email address and password.
To delete your Facebook account, go to Help Center by clicking the 'Help' link from the account menu. Type Delete into the search box. Select “How do I permanently delete my account?” then scroll down to submit your request here. Verify that you want to delete your account. Click Submit. Facebook will remove your data after 14 days post security check. 

Identity Theft: Stay Educated- Tip of the Week

Shred Documents Containing Financial And Personal Information after Use
The information in these documents is valuable to you and easily obtainable by identity thieves. A person simply needs to go trough your trash (which is generally legal once it's put on the street for pick up) to access important information about you. Throwing away something as simple as a bank statement or even a generic credit card offer can be a grievous mistake if it ends up in the wrong hands. The best way to ensure your information stays private is to invest in a document shredder. You don't need anything fancy, however, for maximum results we recommend a cross shredder because it turns the shredded item into confetti like pieces and makes it extremely difficult to  reconstruct the shredded document. 

For more information visit us at www.conroyassociates.con

Sorry this is late. This is the tip for last week. A new one will still be updated for this week. 

Identity Theft: Stay Educated- Type 4

Financial Identity Theft
When we think of "identity theft" the first things that usually come to mind are credit reports and bank accounts. This is specifically known as financial identity theft. Identity thieves can open new accounts, apply for credit cards or loans, transfer your assets to their accounts and more in your name with just the smallest amount of information from your financial background.

Unfortunately, without regular monitoring of their assets, victims of financial identity theft may be left with the responsibility of correcting the financial misinformation as well as being responsible for any payments associated with thieve's activities.

Victims of financial identity theft often may not know that they are just that until it is too late. In this case these individuals will find it difficult, if not impossible, to apply for credit cards or loans, purchase property or large merchandise such as homes or cars, repair their credit score (it will no doubt be severely effected by this), pay for education, or even obtain employment (since some employers require credit checks).

Be sure to consistently keep a close eye on your financial information to help avoid someone wreaking havoc on your financial stability.

For more information visit us at www.conroyassociates.com