What is Identity Theft?

1
What is Identity Theft?

• The theft, misrepresentation or hijacking of
  another person or business Identity
• It is a growing problem in Canada
• Fraud
• Provides an effective means to commit other
  crimes using your name.

2
Two Main Types of Identity Theft

• Account Takeovers
• Card Skimming
• Non-Receipts
• Card Replacements
• Unauthorized Use
• Phishing

• Application Fraud
• Loans
• Bank Accounts
• Credit Cards
• Mortgages
• Cell Phones

3
How Does It Happen?

• Fraudsters are innovative
• Happens though computer use, email, snail mail,
  transactions over the phone, even material taken
  from your trash!
• Consumer is not aware of potential fraud

4
What Can You Do?

• Protect yourself
• Minimize the chances of having your identity
  stolen
• Be Aware of what is happening
• Be A smart consumer
• Stay one step ahead and protect yourself

5
The Less Information thats out there the better!

• Carry only the cards you need in your wallet.
  Leave extra credit cards, social insurance cards
  locked up at home.
• Make a copy of all of your cards and lock the
  copy up in your house.
• Dont let a store clerk write down your credit
  card
• Dont print your SIN or Drivers License on your
  cheques
• When asked for your SIN always ask if you can
  provide another number
• Dont Use ATM tellers from financial institutions
  you dont recognize.

6
Protect yourself at work

• Keep your purse/wallet locked up at the office at
  all times.
• Workplace theft is more common than most people
  realize
• Ask your employer for a safe place to lock up
  your things if one is not provided for you.
• Ask your employer about security procedures for
  personal files
• DO NOT log onto personal financial websites using
  company computers.
• DO NOT set passwords to auto remember.
• And do not store personal information in your
  desk or on your office computer at work.

7
Protect yourself at home

• Protect your mail, get a locked mail box
• Never have new cheques sent to your home in the
  mail. Pick them up from the bank
• Buy a shredder to shred personal documents
• Check your credit report at least once a year
• Keep your personal information in a locked room
  or a filing cabinet.

8
A review of the problem

• What is the problem?
• Fastest growing crime in the country
• 25 million victims, 10 million in 2004
• Sheer numbers swamp law enforcement

9
Further thoughts on the problem

• Whats the harm?
• 600 hours spent to restore identity and credit
• 1,400 out-of-pocket costs to victim
• 16,000 in lost productivity of victim
• 40,000-92,000 business community losses per
  stolen identity
• Source Identity Theft Resource Center

10
How do they get the information?

• Dumpster divers
• Mail thieves
• Burglary and personal theft
• Insider compromises
• Phishing
• Internet sources and hacking

11
How can I protect myself?

• Place passwords on credit card, bank, phone
  accounts
• Dont use your mothers maiden name, birth date,
  last 4 digits of SSN, or phone number
• Secure personal info in your home
• Shred all documents containing your personal info

12
How can I protect myself? (continued)

• Drop outgoing mail in a USPS box, not your home
  mailbox
• Limit the number of credit cards you carry
• Dont carry your Social Security card

13
Web site links

• Web site provides links to federal and state
  resources for additional info on ID theft
• www.idtheftcenter.org
• www.consumer.gov/idtheft
• To opt out of prescreened credit card offers by
  phone, call toll-free 1-888-5-OPT-OUT
• www.privacyrights.org

14
Additional Web site links

• Information on state laws, forms, and prevention
  checklists for businesses
• www.idtheftcenter.org
• For identity theft brochure re banking industry
• www.bos.frb.org/consumer/identity/idtheft.htm

15
20 U.S.C. 1097 Title IV, HEA

• Any person who knowingly and willfully embezzles,
  misapplies, steals, obtains by fraud, false
  statement or forgery, or fails to refund any
  funds, assets, or property provided or insured
  under Title IV, HEA or attempts to so embezzle,
  misapply, steal, obtain by fraud, false statement
  or forgery, or fail to refund any funds, assets,
  or property, shall be finedor imprisoned

16
Tools used to commit identity theft of federal
student aid funds

• computer
• online application process for FSA funds
• online enrollment
• identity of another person
• fake identification documents

17
Protecting others from identity theft

• Properly handle documents
• Shred sensitive info
• Use key identifiers instead of the SSN
• Password-protect sensitive info
• Audit access
• Review access privileges
• View info on computers in the same manner as
  paper documents is it secure?

18
Protect Yourself Online

• Use A Firewall this will prevent Phishing
  attempts
• Choose good passwords Use an alpha numeric
  password and change them frequently
• Choose a good username do not use your email
  address as a username (Hannah1199)
• Beware of Phishing Pay Pal/Best Buy/EBay/RBC etc

19
What does Phishing Look Like?
20
Signs that you may be a Victim

• A bank or cell phone company contacts you about
  suspicious transactions
• You start receiving suspicious calls for more
  information about yourself
• A collection agency calls you about
• an unknown debt
• Unknown items appear on one
• of your statements
• Source Consumer Measures Committee

21

• You are denied credit for unknown reasons
• Bills and statements are not arriving in the mail
• Your credit report has unknown or inaccurate
  entries
• Bills or statements arrive for unknown accounts
• Source Consumer Measures Committee

22
Current Threats

• The Prize Pitch
• Remember that you should never have to buy
  anything to win a prize in a contest
• Be careful of the sweepstakes contest, you will
  be contacted by a judge border services person or
  a lawyer. They will tell you that the money
  must be sent up front for tax reasons.

23
Current Threats

• Emergency or Grandparent Scam
• Happens over the phone
• May use accident or travel as an excuse
• 2 methods used
• 1) typical
• Do you know who this is?
• dont tell anyone!
• 2) email
• a hijacked account is used to ask friends or
  family to send money.

24
The results of the scam

• By the end of October 2009
• Grandparent scam had 278 failed attempts
• Had 88 Successful attempts total loss reported
  317,732.63 Average of 3,610 per victim.
• In 2008 total loss on the same scam was 157,452
• December 2009 OPP warns of the scam

25
What do you do if you are a Victim?

• Contact police file a police report
• Notify the Credit Bureaus Equifax, Trans Union
• Contact your banking institution
• Contact Phone Busters 1.888.495.8501 or on the
  web at www.phonebusters.com
• Investigate new accounts review your credit
  report
• Check your Address check with Canada Post to
  see if there was a change of address reported.
  Notify them that you are a victim
• Check your passport check with passport Canada
  to be sure no one has applied for a new passport
  under your name. you can visit their website at
  www.ppt.gc.ca or call 1.888.567.6868

26
What Can be Done?

• Be suspicious of any e-mail with urgent requests
  for personal financial information
• Unless e-mail is digitally signed, you can't be
  sure it wasn't forged or spoofed
• Phishers typically include upsetting or exciting
  (but false) statements in e-mails to get people
  to react immediately

27
What Can be Done? (continued)

• They typically ask for info such as usernames,
  passwords, credit card numbers, Social Security
  numbers, etc.
• phisher e-mails are typically NOT personalized,
  while valid messages from your bank or e-commerce
  company generally are

28
Phishing Prevention

• Don't use links in an e-mail to get to any Web
  page if you suspect the message might not be
  authentic
• instead, call the company on the telephone or log
  onto its Web site directly by typing in the Web
  address in your browser

29
Phishing Prevention (continued)

• Avoid filling out forms in e-mail messages that
  ask for personal financial information
• you should only communicate information such as
  credit card numbers or account information via a
  secure Web site or the telephone

30
Phishing Prevention

• Always ensure you're using a secure Web site when
  submitting credit card or other sensitive
  information via your Web browser
• to make sure you're on a secure Web server, check
  the beginning of the Web address in your
  browsers address bar - it should be "https//"
  rather than just "http//"

31
Phishing Prevention (continued)

• Consider installing a Web browser tool bar to
  help protect you from known phishing fraud Web
  sites

32
Phishing Prevention

• Regularly log into your online accounts
• don't leave it for as long as a month before you
  check each account
• Regularly check your bank, credit and debit card
  statements to ensure that all transactions are
  legitimate
• if anything is suspicious, contact your bank and
  all card issuers
• Ensure that your browser is up to date and
  security patches applied

33
Other Actions

• Spam filters
• Personal firewalls
• Trust tool bars
• Spoof protection software

34
Other Actions (continued)

• Always initiate the transaction
• even if a phishing message is delivered, verify
  by logging to the home page directly rather than
  clicking the URL in the e-mail
• When in doubt always first give a wrong password
• the legitimate URL will reject it the phished
  one will accept it

35
Cyber Bullying and Ethics

• Cyber bullying is the electronic posting of
  mean-spirited messages about a person, often done
  anonymously
• Cyber ethics help Internet users understand what
  type of online behavior is right and wrong
• Cyber bullying and poor cyber ethics are threats
  many teens and young adults face not from
  strangers, but from their own peers

36
Cyber Predators

• Cyber predators are people who search online for
  other people in order to use, control, or harm
  them in some way
• Cyber predators target teens and young adults
  both male and female on a regular basis,
  regardless of whether or not the victims are 18
  or above
• Social networking sites enhance a predators
  ability to target young Americans, especially if
  they share personal information in your profile
• 91 of young adults say they are social
  networking friends with people they dont know
  well
• You never know who is behind the screen, so
  protect yourself and your personal information
• If you are being targeted or harassed online,
  you should notify your family or the proper
  authorities
• Source http//www.staysafeonline.org/sites/defa
  ult/files/resource_documents/Cyber20Education205
  .3.1120PDF.pdf

37
Cyber Bullying

• Whatever anyone posts online about another person
  can be spread virally, resulting in serious,
  unwarranted damage to an individuals reputation
  or personal well-being

38
Cyber Bullying

• Avoid being a cyber bully and practice good cyber
  ethics by
• Following the golden rule online and in real
  life be nice
• Not saying or doing anything online that you
  wouldnt do in person
• Owning what you say and do online

39
Reducing risk

• We never know who is looking in our trash
• Shred sensitive documents
• Secure shred barrels and make sure that proper
  handling procedures are in place