Protect Yourself from Scams
Prevent Offenses-Be Defensive
As information has become more central to our daily lives, thieves have
developed more ways of committing crimes. Remaining vigilant and increasing
your awareness of how thieves operate can help keep your information secure.
Calling All Scams
The phone rings. The caller congratulates you on winning a prize - a free trip
or new car! She just has a couple of questions to verify that you are the
winner. This is one of many false pretenses that identity thieves use to get
you to reveal sensitive information. They could be taking a survey, asking for
charity donations or posing as representatives of banks, businesses or
government agencies. There have even been reports of telemarketers offering
free credit reports that require you to fill out a form with your personal
information. Naturally, they use it to commit fraud against you.
Don't give out personal information on the phone unless you are sure you know
whom you're dealing with. Be sure to tell other family members, including
children, never to give out or confirm any personal information during calls
initiated by other people.
More Scams and Spams
While many scams have colorful names, they can leave a real black mark on your
finances or your identity. Remaining alert is always your best defense. If
something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. If something sounds
suspicious, don't overrule your intuition. There will always be new scams, but
your best approach is usually good old common sense.
Phishing-Thieves send you an email that appears to be from your bank or
Internet service provider linking you to a phony website which asks that you
verify personal information or input your password. Don't respond in any way;
financial service companies, banks and Internet service providers never ask you
for information in this manner. Instead call the company to verify the email is
genuine.
Skimming-Thieves bribe waiters or clerks who ring up credit card sales
to run the credit cards through a skimmer, a small device which captures
personal information. Try to keep your credit card in sight at all times.
Dumpster Diving-Thieves literally go through your garbage looking for
papers that haven't been shredded, such as credit card statements or
applications, or papers that contain personal information such as names, Social
Security numbers, bank account numbers and credit card numbers. Shred this
information before putting it into the garbage.
Shoulder Surfing-Thieves look over your shoulder as you enter personal
identification numbers into ATM machines or calling card numbers into phones.
Be sure to conceal the keys that you are punching.
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