Digital Protection
Preventing Identity Theft
How Your Identity Can Be Stolen
Shoulder Surfing
Someone visually obtaining passwords or pin numbers to accounts as you surf.
Phishing
Spam email or fraudulent websites design to harvest personal information.
Dumpster Diving
People will go through your trash to find bills, receipts or any other documents that have personal or account information on them.
Uses For Your Stolen Information
- They can apply for credit and run up the bill, which will be sent to you. This often destroys your credit.
- They can apply for government benefits in your name.
- They can have a drivers license made with your name and address and DL# with their picture.
- They can give your personal info to police during an arrest, not show up for court, then they come and arrest you for failure to appear.
- They can apply for and receive a loan and take the money and you will be responsible for repaying the money.
Ways to Prevent Identity Theft
- Never give social security # over the internet or on the phone.
- Commit passwords to memory, or save them in Evernote.
- Learn how to determine which websites are secure.
- Avoid giving personal information on websites that are not secure.
- Disconnect laptop or computer from broadband or shared connections.
- Avoid clicking pop-up ads.