Watching your steps: Identity theft grows as major national problem

That’s just what happened when presenter Kraig Rahe of Westfield Insurance asked an audience member for his wallet during a recent session on Identity Theft Prevention. About 55 people attended the event in Union Country Club at Dover, sponsored by the Young Professionals Network of the Tuscarawas Valley.

“See how easy it is to do?,” Rahe asked.

If Rahe had kept it, he had access to practically everything an identity thief wants: Your name, address and telephone number; your date of birth; your Social Security number; your driver’s license number; your credit card information; your bank account information; and your mother’s maiden name – a frequent password for security purposes.

All of those were in the man’s wallet, except for his mother’s maiden name. And that’s not difficult to obtain, through a variety of means, he added.

Rahe pointed out that people can be too trusting, or simply not think about the ramifications of their actions. He admitted that he once put his wallet on a counter at a fast food restaurant, only to turn around and find out it had been stolen.

“There are 19 victims of ID theft per minute nationwide, and that only took seconds,” he said.

This year alone there will be 10 million people effected in the United States. Twenty-five percent of ID theft is committed by someone the victim knows. When Rahe asked the audience members to raise a hand if they had suffered ID theft, several did so. A Dover woman said a roommate had stolen her checkbook.

His definition of identity theft is “a type of crime in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person’s personal data in some way that involved deception, typically for economic gain.” There are two types of theft – an account takeover and true identity theft.

Rahe said ID theft is talked about daily in the insurance industry. Small wonder – $53 billion in damages has been paid as a result this year alone. The industry has responded by offering a premium at $20 to $40 per year that will cover attorney fees, lost wages and long distance calls to correct the problems. It does not cover losses, but is for the out-of-pocket costs for getting one’s identity back.

That’s no small task as Americans spend roughly 300 million hours annually resolving issues related to identity theft. To help prevent ID theft, Ohio is one of the states that no longer puts Social Security numbers on a person’s driver’s license.

Rahe stressed the importance of protecting the nine-digit number. People should review the Social Security retirement information that comes in the mail from the agency, if the amount begins to go down that could reflect identity theft.

He recommended getting a cross-cut shredder and shredding all documents with vital information, including ATM receipts. With the advent of cell phones with cameras, thieves don’t need documents – they do what’s called “shoulder surfing” looking over a person’s shoulder or lifting a camera to view an ATM transaction.

Much of ID theft involves stealth and deception.

“Have you ever heard of ‘Dumpster diving’,” Rahe asked. “That’s when people go through your trash hoping to find the information they need.”

It turns out one of Rahe’s neighbors was handing that to would-be thieves on a silver platter. When Rahe was taking out his own trash one time, he reached down to pick up some papers that had blown down the street. He was shocked to discover it was a neighbor’s tax returns.

Thieves also steal incoming or outgoing mail from a person’s mailbox to obtain preapproved credit offers, credit cards, utility bills, bank and credit card statements, investment reports, insurance statements, benefits documents and tax information. To combat that, drop off mail at the post office or in a postal service mailbox.

He urged people not to fall prey to someone calling to get information, representing themselves as being from a person’s credit card company or bank. He said people should open all their mail and review transactions.

Important documents should be kept in a locked safe. He recommended making photocopies of the front and back of all credit cards and keeping them in the safe so that if something happens, card contact information would be readily available. Reporting theft quickly can help limit liability.

He said people can contact their credit card company to set up a transaction threshold or geographic area that would prompt the company to contact the cardholder if something occurs outside that realm.

People should check their credit report – which is available free annually. Most of the people in the room held up their hand when asked if they had checked their credit report within the past two years.

For those people who think that ID theft happens mostly to senior citizens, it turns out that 75 percent of incidents involve people age 18 to 49.

Rahe said that Westfield Insurance has prevention tips on its Web site at www.westfieldgrp.com.

Among those attending the event was attorney Bob Preston. He called the session “very informative – a lot of people don’t realize what information you should not carry with you.”

“If we think they can’t touch our accounts – we’re so wrong,” Rahe said. “It can happen to anyone.”

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