IDENTITY THEFT - The act of impersonating another, by means
of using the person's information, such as birth date, Social Security number,
address, name, and bank account information.
Identity Theft is a growing concern among all Americans . Much of the data
used by thieves is found on the internet or in trash cans at your local store.
Information is obtained by either hacking through a web site which contains this
type of data, or the user
actually giving them the information without even knowing it. At CFS we have
come up with tips to use while on the internet and using your computer.
ALL SOMEONE NEEDS TO STEAL YOUR IDENTITY IS
1. YOUR NAME
2..YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER
3. YOUR DATE OF BIRTH.
1. Never follow link's to other web pages and enter any personal information,
no matter how real the page look's. Always type the address in to your browsers
address bar, keep in mind when we say address this does not mean the address to
the link you trying to click on, it means the web sites official address.
Example HTTP:www.paypal.com is NOT the correct address for Pay Pal, the correct
address is HTTPS//:www.paypal.com , notice the S after the HTTP, this means
that the page is officially a Pay Pal site and 2 a secure web site. Though
just because a link contained within an e-mail shows this address, this does not
mean when you click on it you actually go to the shown address.
2. The state of California REQUIRES companies to notify consumers of
any data theft from there servers or actual location. If you have been notified
it is time to start taking action, the state of California provides exhaustive
resources on the state government web site, as well does the federal government.
Do not waste any time taking action. it can only take 5 minutes for a thief to
steal your name and everything about you.
3. If you receive a phone call from someone who starts asking for
person information, ask them for a phone number that you can call them back at,
this give you the opportunity to verify that they are truly calling from the
company they say they are calling from, it gives you there name and contact
information ( if you call the given number back and no one is there by that name
you just kept your identity from being stolen ) and also gives you the opportunity
to think about why this company if real is even asking for this information over
the telephone.
4. If you receive an e-mail asking for any person information, do not
reply to this e-mail, do not call any number listed in this e-mail, pretend as
if you never received it. No legitimate company will ask for any private
information through an e-mail.
5. Shred anything you throw away in your own trash can that has your
name, age, dob, address, social security number, place of work, place of birth,
anything that says anything about you should be shredded before you throw it
away, don't own a shredder rip it into tiny pieces.
IF YOU HAVE BEEN A VICTIM THE FOLLOWING LINKS WILL TAKE YOU
TO THE RESOURCE SITES WHERE YOU CAN OBTAIN INFORMATION ON
CORRECTING THIS CRIME.
California Office Of Privacy Protection:
http://www.privacy.ca.gov/cover/identitytheft.htm
Social Security Office :
http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/idtheft.htm
Federal Trade Commission :
http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse :
http://www.privacyrights.org/identity.htm
