Protecting Our Identity

Ones FICO score is a very important determinant of the ability to finance the purchase or refinance of a home. The FICO score is determined by a formula developed by Experian and takes into account many different factors. In today’s lending environment, automated underwriting has taken a predominant position in the processing of loan applications. It has become more cumbersome to address issues that do not easily fit into the formula. It is of extremely high importance, therefore, to protect one’s credit by guarding against identity theft. Once an item is shown as a negative on one’s credit report, it is very difficult and very time consuming to get it taken off. Also, while an item of bad credit is being investigated and attempts are being made to rectify the problem, the result is that the overall FICO score is reduced, and therefore reflects a greater credit risk than it should.

The protection of your identity is one of the most important functions in maintaining your financial health.?Identity theft can cause many a myriad of problems.?One major problem could be the inability to achieve the “American Dream” of homeownership.?Even if you already own a home, identity theft could cause you thousands and thousands of dollars due to higher interest rates.?In trying to refinance a home in order to remodel, for example, the interest rate could easily be 2% higher than the current market interest rate just because someone else used your credit and negatively impacted it.

There are ¡°Ten Top Tips for Identity Theft Protection¡± published by the Office of Privacy Protection, California Department of Consumer Affairs, www.dca.ca.gov. If one follows these guidelines for protection, one will be far ahead of the average person in safeguarding their identity, although no one is fully guaranteed complete immunity.

The following is a short, abbreviated list of these top ten pointers:

Tip # 1. Protect your social security number. (Don¡¯t carry your social security card with you)

Tip # 2. Fight ¡°Phishing¡±-don¡¯t take the bait. (Don¡¯t respond online to credit information requests).

Tip # 3. Keep your identity from getting trashed. (Shred information when throwing away).

Tip # 4. Control your personal financial information.

Tip # 5. Shield your computer from viruses and spyware.

Tip # 6 Click with caution!?When shopping on line, check out the website before entering your credit card number or other personal information.

Tip #7 Check your bills and bank statements right away.

Tip #8 Stop pre-approved credit offers.

Tip #9 Ask questions of anyone before giving personal information.

Tip #10?Check your credit reports-for free.

Identity theft can be devastating to a person¡¯s finances. It often leaves its victims credit and financial lives in shambles, but by practicing these simple tips you can stay one step ahead of the identity thieves, and be the only one who uses your identity.

For further information related to this article, visit http://www.nefcortez.com



By: Nef Cortez

About the Author:

Create a video blog

To protect against identity theft, it is best not to carry your Social Security number in your wallet or write your Social Security number on a check.  Before disclosing your Social Security number (SSN) to anyone, first make sure that it is absolutely necessary that they have it.  You are allowed to ask pointed questions, don’t be shy.  Ask the person if some other form of identification will suffice.  An identity thief is well on his way in stealing your identity when he has your Social Security number. 

 

 

Your state driver’s license may use your SSN as your driver’s license number and if this is so, ask to have it replaced with another number.  Your health insurance company may also use your SSN as your policy number, so ask to have it changed.  Your bank, credit union etc and the company that employs you need your SSN for wage and tax reporting purposes.  There will be times when a company will want to do a credit check on you when you apply for a credit card, loan, apartment, hydro, phone or other utility and they will want your SSN. 

 

 

Sometimes they just want your Social Security number for ordinary record keeping, so you should ask these questions:

 

 

1. Why do you need my Social Security number.

2. Precisely how will my Social Security number be used?

3. How will you protect my social Security number from being stolen or otherwise compromised?

4. What will happen if I don’t give you my social Security number?

 

 

Some company’s will not be able to provide you with a service or benefit that you desire without having your Social Security number.  If the company provides answers to these questions that are satisfactory to you, then you may be able to make a decision to share your SSN.  Ultimately, the decision is yours. 



By: Randy Vezina

About the Author:

Content

Bob squinted at the email and began to read:

“Dear eBay User, as part of our security measures, eBay Inc. has developed a security program against fraudulent attempts and account thefts. Therefore, our system requires further account verification…”

Security Measures. A threat to suspend his account to prevent “fraudulent activity”. The email went on to say that there were “procedural safeguards with federal regulations to protect the information you provide for us.”

Bob clicked the link and was confronted with an authentic looking logon page, just waiting for him to input his user name and password and confirm what ebay supposedly didn’t know.

He almost did it. The page looked absolutely authentic, and he had already been “set up” by the email message. His fingers were poised over the keyboard when he happened to glance at the URL.

There was something very, very wrong with it.

“PHARMING” TO FLEECE SHEEP

The art of “pharming” involves setting up an illegitimate website that is identical with its legitimate prototype, for example the ebay page Bob was almost suckered into using, and redirecting traffic to it.

“Pharmers” can do it in two ways:

1.By altering the “Hosts” file on your computer. The Hosts file stores the IP address of websites you have been accessing. By inserting a new IP address into the database field corresponding to a website, your own computer can be redirected to the pharmer’s website. Any information you give the bogus site is immediately hijacked by the pharmer.

2.Hijacking the DNS (Dynamic Name Server) itself. A DNS matches the names of address with their IP addresses. If this server can be coerced into assigning new IP addresses to traditional names, all computers using the name resolution provided by the DNS server will be redirected to the hijacker’s web site.

Once that happens, it’s time to be fleeced.

DOWN ON THE PHARM

“Pharmers” hijack your “hosts” file or DNS servers using Spyware, Adware, Viruses or Trojans. One of the most dangerous things you can do is to run your computer without some form of Internet Security installed on it.

Your security software should be continually updating its virus definitions, and be capable of warning you if something has been downloaded from a web site or through email. It should be able to remove it, “quarantine it”, or tell you where it is so that you can remove it by hand.

You should also have Spyware and Adware programs installed, and be aware of any change in Internet browsing patterns. If your home page suddenly changes, or you experience advertising pop ups (which may pop up even when you are not hooked up to the Internet), you should run a Virus, Spyware or Adware scan.

Thanks to the efficacy of these protection programs, pharming is a lot more difficult than it used to be. It isn’t as easy to hijack a computer as it once was.

So, the “pharmers” have teamed up with the “phishermen” to get you to visit the bogus web page yourself, and enter all the information they need.

PHISHING TO CATCH YOU ON THE PHARM

As Bob discovered, the page he had been taken to by the bogus email message was identical to the ebay logon page. Identical in every way except for the URL.

Out of curiosity, he checked the URL for the ebay logon by accessing ebay directly and clicking on the logon link. The two URL’s were nothing alike, except the bogus one did have the word “ebay” in it twice - just enough to make it look authentic.

By combining the two techniques, the phishermen/pharmers had avoided the high tech problems associated with downloading a Virus that could get past his protection software. They had gone straight for the throat.

Bob’s throat.

YOUR ONLY REAL IDENTITY THEFT PREVENTION AND PROTECTION

The only real protection against the pharmers and phishermen is YOU. There are three things you must consider when you read any email demanding information:

• Why do they want it? Be extremely skeptical when they say they have to “update their records”, “comply with federal regulations”, or prevent fraud. They are the ones initiating the fraud.

• Why can’t this be done at the website? Why not invite you to access the website directly and provide this information? The answer is because the bonafide company doesn’t need an update.

• What does the URL look like? Is it a series of subdomains some of which have the name of the bonafide company? Most likely the subdomain is set up with a free hosting company.

• Have they provided partial information about you as a guarantee that the email authentically comes from the legitimate source? Be very careful of this one. This technique is effective for “pretexting”, impersonating a person or company, and was used in the Hewlett Packard scandal to collect information. Just because they know your first and last name (and any other information - known only to the legitimate source) doesn’t mean the email is legitimate. They probably hijacked the information off the server.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The bottom line is: don’t provide any information at the behest of an email, no matter how authentic it looks, or how authentic the page it directs you to looks. If you must log in, do so at the parent site itself.

Your Identity Theft prevention and protection is, in the final analysis, up to you.

Don’t be the next sheep fleeced by the pharmers who caught you with the phisherman’s hook. Being dropped naked into their frying pan is NOT a fate you want.



By: John Young

About the Author:

Website content

You may not be aware of the boom in the crime of identity theft but it is a crime that continues to increase, especially as many people become less careful with their personal information and who they are willing to give it to. Just as an example, almost 8 million people were victims of identity theft of some form during 2006.

It is hard to understand why there is such a major increase in this type of crime, which is a crime that barely existed only 10 to 15 years ago. Yes, there were fraud cases back at that time, but not nearly to the extent nor the sophistication that today’s identity theft crimes display.

Much of the reason, it must be assumed, is due to the Internet boom and how there are literally millions more people online every day than there were several years ago. But this is NOT to say that the Internet or the information technology craze is a bad thing, not at all. What it does mean, however, that it is easier than ever for people to share personal information online. There is no personal interaction required to type information into a web form or via instant messenger or via email, when in reality, you do not know for 100% sure exactly WHO is receiving the information you are transmitting into cyberspace. You may THINK it’s your bank asking you to verify your information or this great new friend you met in a forum that teaches Sunday school, but do you really know?

For the most part, most consumers are unaware of what information they are NOT required to divulge. People who are relatively new to the Internet and email do not realize that their bank or credit card company would NEVER ask them to verify personal information online, yet thousands of people fall victim to email scams every year by doing so because the email looks so “official”. What they don’t realize is that almost any 12 year old worth his salt can create an “official looking” email that probably would look better than one the real bank or credit card company would send out themselves!

Never give out your personal information, account information or PIN codes via an online form or to a telemarketer over the phone. Even if you don’t have doubts about the identity of the person calling, be cautious anyway and YOU initiate the call to the bank or credit card company so you know who you are calling.

Invest in a paper shredder, which are less than $40 at almost any office supply store. And with those credit card offers you get in the mail every week? Shred them. If you are like most people and simply tear it in half and throw it in the trash, this becomes gold for the identity thieves who regularly engage in “dumpster diving” to piece back together such offers so they can steal your identity.

Protect your identity and your personal information. It may be a bit more trouble than you are used to taking, but if your identity is stolen, you will spend weeks, month, and even years trying to get things straightened back out.



By: Jon Arnold

About the Author:

Create a video blog…instantly.