The identity theft threat is real and potentially costly. The FTC’s September 2003 Identity Theft Survey report estimated that nearly 10 million Americans were the victim of some form of identity theft between 2002-2003. The total cost of those thefts was close to $48 billion for businesses, and around $5 billion for individuals.

“There are so many ways people can steal your identity it’s not even funny,” said Suzan Firth, a Bainbridge Island-based independent associate director for Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. Pre-Paid Legal Services, a subscription-based legal plan firm, also offers identity theft protection and recovery services through its Identity Theft Shield subscription service.

“I got involved with the company because I was a victim of identity theft,” said Firth.

One of the issues surrounding identity theft, said Firth, is that people’s identity theft concerns focus mostly on credit card account theft, and that there isn’t enough attention paid to the other forms of identity theft, which include stealing personal information in order to commit a crime in someone else’s name, get prescriptions filled fraudulently, apply for loans and mortgages, and so on.

In fact, the FTC report indicated that 15 percent of the identity theft victims surveyed had their personal information used in a non-financial way, for example, identity thieves used stolen identities if they were stopped by a police officer or charged with a crime.

“It’s a major concern,” said Firth.

Although the implications of this are scary in the extreme, there are a number of simple steps that individuals can take to protect their personal information.

“First of all, I wouldn’t sign the back of any credit cards,” said Firth. She also recommended signing credit card receipts with a different signature than your usual signature, for example, simply using your first initial instead of your full first name. This is also a good strategy for shopping online.

Additional tactics to protect your identity include:

Monitor Your Credit Report

Under the recently passed Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) the three major credit bureaus will provide individuals with free copies of their credit reports once a year — and make additional copies available if an individual is the victim of identity theft. Reviewing your credit reports more regularly, however, is recommended, since catching identity theft early is crucial to minimizing damage. Credit monitoring services abound, and identity theft protection services, such as Pre-Paid Legal’s Identity Theft Shield, usually include regular credit monitoring as part of their services.

Protect Your Mail

All mail contains some identifying information on it and simply throwing those pre-approved credit card offers — or even those charity donation pleas — in the trash can be risky. Investing in a cross-cut shredder keeps your information out of the hand of dumpster diving identity thieves. Similarly take the extra time to find a postal service mailbox to use for your outgoing mail. That little red flag on your home mailbox can be a signal for thieves as well as for your postal carrier.

Be a Wary Online Shopper

Although most online shopping sites are above board, and take significant precautions to protect customers’ information there are still sites that may be less than secure. At the very least, any online shopping site you purchase from should be using SSL encryption. An easy way to tell if a site is secure: the site URL will start with “https” instead of “http.”

Even sites using security can seem suspect.

“If you don’t feel comfortable, use your intuition and don’t shop there,” said Firth.

Don’t Talk to Telemarketers

Never give information out over the phone. There is simply no way to verify that the person on the other end is who they say they are. If the caller claims to be from a company that you have an account with, tell them you will call them back, find the company’s official number from the phone book, account statement, or other authentic source, and return the call.

Businesses can also be victims of identity theft, particularly when they are in the business of handling sensitive data, such as client credit card numbers, health information and so on. Employee background checks, following stringent security procedures, and limiting access to sensitive information, are all steps that businesses can take to reduce the chances of a data breach or other identity theft incident. Services to protect businesses in the event of such a breach or theft are available, including plans through Pre-Paid Legal.

Perhaps the most important step that individuals and businesses can take to protect themselves is to always ask questions.

“Don’t be afraid to ask questions or defy authority,” said Firth. “Remember, “it’s not the money they want, it’s your identity. They want to be you for a while.”
For more information about identity theft protection visit www.consumer.gov/idtheft.