Photo By Beaumont Wade | Here are a few steps to protect your personal information against identity theft....... read more read more
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“Identity theft is someone taking your personal information, and using it for personal gain,” said Tracie Faulk, 341st Force Support Squadron community readiness agent and A&FRC team member.
In today’s world it can be easy for criminals to obtain an individual’s personal information and steal their identity.
“We recommend checking your credit report periodically,” said Faulk. “You can check your report four times a year for free. With the three companies—TransUnion, Equifax and Experian—you are entitled to one free credit report per company per year, and the fourth one is through me.”
Faulk is able to pull a credit report including the credit score for any military member and their spouse once a year for free by appointment only.
“Free credit reports are not affecting your credit score,” said Faulk. “The http://annualcreditreport.com is a free site to look at your credit report, but you have to pay to see your credit score.”
According to the Department of Justice, many criminals engage in shoulder surfing, which is when a criminal is watching from a nearby location as someone punches in their credit card number or someone gives their card information over the phone.
Something as small as not shredding pre-approved credit cards received in the mail, could give someone the opportunity to activate them in the person’s name.
“When you shred personal information, use a shredder that shreds crisscross instead of straight down,” said Faulk. “There are machines out there that have the capability of putting material shredded straight down back together in seconds.”
Identity theft is a crime, but it is not just a financial crime. According to http://identity.utexas.edu, medical identity theft is slowly becoming popular which is where a criminal lies to receive medical treatments and insurance benefits.
Cyber criminals are smart, each piece of your personal identifying information can be used in a variety of crimes.
According to Faulk, one out of two individuals will be a victim of identity theft.
“Another way you can avoid identity theft is to freeze your credit,” said Faulk. “Freezing your credit is eliminating anyone the opportunity to access your credit, including yourself. The only stipulation is, in order to lift the freeze you would have to pay a fee, and contact the credit reporting agencies to do so.”
The Federal Trade Commission just launched a new program called http://www.identitytheft.gov, it’s a one stop resource to help individuals fix identity theft issues.
For more information on credit or financial counseling or to schedule an appointment, call 731-4900.
| Date Taken: | 03.29.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 03.30.2016 17:28 |
| Story ID: | 193919 |
| Location: | MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, MT, US |
| Web Views: | 62 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Don’t be a victim of identity theft, by SrA Jaeda Tookes, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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