| Protect Yourself from ScamsWednesday, 16 November 2005 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. | | Shredder Selector |  |
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