Staying safe from ID thieves

Simply knowing the risks of identity theft may be the first step in keeping your identity secure from thieves.

As many as nine million Americans have their identities stolen each year, according to Federal Trade Commission estimates. Median amounts of money stolen in various categories of theft range from a hundreds to thousands of dollars.

“It happens any and everywhere,” said Cpl. Ervin Taylor of the VCU Police Department. Taylor is the crime prevention
specialist for the Monroe Park Campus.

Taylor said identity theft should be taken seriously and that someone stealing an identity could cause severe problems for the victim, including creating a criminal record under the victim’s name.

“If you are lucky, it will only cost you a few hundred dollars,” Taylor said. “But it can get as (bad) as creating a criminal record, jeopardize your chance at jobs, getting loans or buying a car or house.”

When someone is a victim of identity theft, Taylor said, the VCU Police Department is available to help.

“When a report is made to VCU Police, we document the information first. Then, we make every attempt to locate the locations that the identity theft took place,” Taylor said. “We also provide guidance to the victim in hopes to stop any use of their identity.”

The Web site for VCU Police states that filing a police report immediately following theft proves to credit providers a victim was diligent and gives police valuable investigative opportunities.

Calling national credit-reporting organizations Equifax, Experian or Trans Union-and having a fraud alert placed on a name and social security number also can limit the damage identity thieves can do.

VCU has contracted with Equifax specifically and provides discounted products to faculty, staff and students-including identity theft insurance. In March, representatives from LifeLock, which offers similar identity theft prevention services, visited the VCU campus.

In March 2008, LifeLock Chief Executive Officer Todd Davis told The CT, “Even though (people) do use the Web to steal identities, only about 16 percent of identity theft occurs over the Web. About 50 percent of the cases occur because an employer or someone you do business with . loses your data.”

On August 29, 2006, staff from the School of Engineering and the Office of Technology services discovered through human error, personal information of 2,890 students was accessible on the Internet. According to the VCU Technology Service Web site, steps were immediately taken to remove the information and strengthen security measures for personal information following the security breach.

Chad Horohoe, a computer science major and IT security intern for the City of Richmond, says he’s never been afraid of identity theft.

“I believe it’s a bit overhyped,” Horohoe said. “There’s absolutely no problem whatsoever with typing your social security number online, provided you know who you’re giving it to and the connection is secure.”

Horohoe says he is careful about what information he provides on social networking sites and limits his use of them.

“I keep my social networking limited to Facebook and LinkedIn,” Horohoe said. “There’s less venues for harvesting.”

Social networking sites do play a role in identity theft, and Taylor says making information public such as addresses, location, birth year and phone numbers increases risk of identity theft.

“These sites can be used to get additional information from victims by asking questions about their identity and it also (provides) pictures and descriptions of you,” Taylor said.

Identity theft precautions, phone numbers, and Web addresses are available on the VCU Police Web site at www.vcu.edu/police/docs/itp.pdf.