As college students prepare to head back to campus, fighting identity thieves may not be at the top of their list of priorities. However, identity theft is a common, fast-growing crime in the United States and students are a prime target.
“Students may be short on cash and credit and can’t imagine why anyone would want to steal their identity. But identity theft isn’t just about stealing someone’s money or assets,” said Claire Rosenzweig, President and CEO of BBB Serving Metro New York. “Often thieves want to exploit a student’s clean credit record, using it to take out credit cards, loans or to use the victim’s currently established accounts to buy merchandise or services. Students who learn how to identify and cope with identity theft risks will be better prepared to deal with this type of crime all through their lives.”
College-bound students can take these steps to fight identity theft on campus:
• Send sensitive mail to your parents’ home or a post office box. School mailboxes may not always be secure and can be accessed easily in a dorm or apartment.
• Store important documents under lock and key. This includes your Social Security card, passport and bank and credit card statements. Shred credit card offers and any paper documents that have sensitive financial information rather than just tossing them out.
• Update your smartphone, tablet and laptop’s operating systems, and protect your home screen with a password. Students should keep their operating systems updated to prevent hackers from accessing their devices remotely, and password-protect their home screens to prevent prying eyes in the event they lose their device.
• Always log out of secure sites, such as online banking, before exiting the program. Also ensure your web browser does not save log in and password information associated with sensitive sites.
• Ensure that the web sites you use for buying merchandise or services are secure. Oftentimes, the URL will be preceded by https:// and it will bear the logo indicating a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate. Avoid making online purchases on public computers.
• Never click on links in emails from an unknown sender. These emails may be “phishing” for information, or trying to get you to respond to what looks like a legitimate site but redirects you to a thief’s site where your personal information will be recorded.
• Make sure your computer has up-to-date antivirus and spyware software. Always install any updates and patches to your computer’s operating system or browser software, which help keep your computer safe from any new advances by identity thieves online.
• Always check your credit or debit card statements closely for any suspicious activity. The sooner you identify any potential fraud, the less you’ll suffer in the long run.
• Check out unfamiliar websites with the BBB. Look on bbb.org to see what we say about a company and check for the BBB Accredited Business seal. If the BBB Accredited Business Seal is on their website, click it to be sure it goes to their BBB Business review. If there areother seals, click on the seals to confirm that they are legitimate.
• Check your credit report at least once a year. You are entitled to one free report a year from each of the three reporting bureaus: TransUnion, Experian and Equifax. Look for any suspicious activity or inaccuracies. You can do this for free by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com.
Detailed BBB information about preventing and solving identity theft problems is available in both English and Spanish at
http://newyork.bbb.org/identitytheft and
http://newyork.bbb.org/robodeidentidad.
For more tips you can trust, visit
www.newyork.bbb.org, and to sign up for our weekly scam alerts, visit
https://cbbb.wufoo.com/forms/email-sign-up/.
