A general misconception is that identity theft occurs primarily to either the middle-aged or to senior citizens. A recent report published with data from the Federal Trade Commission debunks this myth by clearly showing that the group most affected by this crime is college-aged individuals.
In the January-December 2008 report (PDF, 101 pages) compiled by the Consumer Sentinel Network, there were more than 300,000 identity-theft complaints registered in 2008, with 24 percent of complaints made by individuals from 20 to 29 years of age.
The Consumer Sentinel Network is a partnership between several federal-level law enforcement entities, including the Federal Trade Commission and the Internet Crime Complaint Center. Their 2008 report is based on data from several cooperating federal agencies. Even though the report indicates 300,000 identity-theft complaints were registered, the FTC estimates that nearly 9 million U.S. citizens have their identity stolen each year.
Why are college-aged individuals more susceptible to ID theft?
Generally, it is believed that 20- to 29-year-olds are more likely to use their personal information in a way that is vulnerable to theft. They are more likely to post personal information on a website, interact more frequently with e-mail, and tend to do more online shopping — all of which increase the risk of identity theft if not done carefully.
Another theory is that members of this age group have the potential to obtain credit lines more easily simply by having more opportunity to pay off the debt, even though they typically have low available credit and their credit cards have low spending limits. This, along with being less informed about the dangers of bad credit and what they can do to monitor their credit, makes them a vulnerable target for identity thieves.
What can you do to prevent ID theft?
Online theft of credit information is increasingly prevalent, so it is extremely important to be careful about the information you enter on the Web and where you are when you enter it.
Some quick tips to avoid theft of personal information:
- Be wary of the personal information that you post on websites. Giving information like your address, phone number, date of birth, and even your real name can allow an identity thief to start tracking you down. If you do post this sort of information on a social-networking site like Facebook or MySpace, be sure that your account is set to “private” and that you are careful about the people you accept as “friends” — remember that the Internet is accessible to nearly 1 billion people, so unless you want them all to see it, don’t post it online.
- Never send credit card or bank account numbers, Social Security numbers, or driver’s license numbers in an e-mail. E-mail is not considered to be a secure form of communication and can be intercepted along the way by a skilled hacker.
- When you make an online purchase, be sure that the site you are purchasing from is secure. Look for the text “https” (the “s” is the important part) at the beginning of the web address. Most web browsers will indicate that the site is secure by also using an image in addition to the “https”. In many cases the image is a closed padlock, but a few browsers use something different, so know what to look for on the browser you use.
- Don’t make Internet purchases or pay bills when you are on an unsecured wireless network. Your information can be easily swiped out of the air by nearby hackers. This can be a little trickier to identify, so think back to the first time you connected to this network — if you didn’t enter a password to get onto the wireless network, then it’s probably not secure.
- Never reply to any e-mail that asks for personal information, including those asking for username, password, or banking information — these are always fraudulent. If you are concerned about the legitimacy of any communication from your bank or if you have any other concerns about your account information, you can always pick up the phone and call the bank directly using the phone number listed in the phone book or on whitepages.com.
- If you have Social Security numbers stored on your computer, get rid of them unless you absolutely have to keep them. If you must have them on your computer because your job requires it, then protect them by encrypting the file where they are stored. Be aware that these numbers are a valuable commodity, so hackers are actively trying to steal them to sell or use to open a credit line in your name.
- Shred papers with personal information on them before discarding them. This includes credit card offers, and old bank or credit card statements. Even car insurance offers can sometimes include information that could be used against you.
For more information, see K-State’s identity theft website.
