An identity is a person but not a body. An abstraction of all the things that make you you, all boiled down into a couple dozen digits. Social Security, credit card, bank account routing. With these three numbers, another person can, at least in the unseeing eyes of online monetary transfer, become you. They can drain your accounts, rack up charges on your card, or, in some cases, obtain ID cards bearing your name. The consequences of an identity theft are often dire, always frustrating, and more relevant now than ever before.
In late 2017 and early 2018, a credit reporting service firm, Equifax, was breached, exposing the credit-card, driver’s license, and Social Security numbers, date of birth, phone numbers, and/or email addresses of 148 million Americans to potential misuse. Almost half of the nation is now easy pickings for identity thieves around the globe. The company, which has not made significant changes to its security routine since the incident, waited six weeks before admitting that their servers had been breached, and the breach went unnoticed for months beforehand. This inaction and incompetence exponentially increased the number of unnoticed thefts which occurred in the weeks following the breach. The FTC now indicates that there are about 9 million actual counts of reported identity theft each year – and the number is only rising.
So how, beside the holes in Equifax’s security, can your identity be stolen? First, criminals may get physical and steal the mail right from your box. Through postal robbery, they can gain access to pre-approved credit cards and other pieces of personal information which may provide access to your accounts. Another approach is that of the con-artist. Typically online these days, con men and women will send emails to unsuspecting people, formatted as though they come from a bank or government agency. Known as “phishing,” responding to, or even opening, these cruel communiques may give criminals all the knowledge they need to take your identity. Con artists might also take advantage of lackluster bank employees, talking their way into your accounts. Some more ruthless rogues resort to violence, mugging their victims before using their cards and ID. Sometimes, they can even use this info to reroute your mail to their abode, gaining much more than just a card and some cash. Finally, tech-savvy transgressors can craft devices to extract card and PIN numbers from ATM machines.
The U.S. Government recommends taking these steps to shield yourself from the assailants who wish to blow your finances asunder:
- “Secure your Social Security number (SSN). Don’t carry your Social Security card in your wallet. Only give out your SSN when absolutely necessary.
- Don’t share personal information (birthdate, Social Security number, or bank account number) just because someone asks for it.
- Collect mail every day. Place a hold on your mail when you are away from home for several days.
- Pay attention to your billing cycles. If bills or financial statements are late, contact the sender.
- Use the security features on your mobile phone.
- Update sharing and firewall settings when you’re on a public wi-fi network. Use a virtual private network, if you use public wi-fi.
- Review your credit card and bank account statements. Compare receipts with account statements. Watch for unauthorized transactions.
- Shred receipts, credit offers, account statements, and expired credit cards, to prevent “dumpster divers” from getting your personal information.
- Store personal information in a safe place.
- Install firewalls and virus-detection software on your home computer.
- Create complex passwords that identity thieves cannot guess. Change your passwords if a company that you do business with has a breach of its databases
- Review your credit reports once a year. Be certain that they don’t include accounts that you have not opened. You can order it for free from Annualcreditreport.com.
- Freeze your credit files with Equifax, Experian, Innovis, TransUnion, and the National Consumer Telecommunications and Utilities Exchange, for free. Credit freezes prevent someone from applying for and getting approval for credit account or utility services in your name.”
Many companies, like Lifelock, Identityforce, and ID watchdog, also offer services which monitor your accounts and identifiers, notifying you when suspicious activity occurs.
Identity theft is one of the scariest crimes out there because an identity is one thing which all people, rich and poor, young and old, Northerners and Southerners, Easterners and Westerners, Capitalists and Socialists, Republicans and Democrats, surgeons and hitmen, have all to themselves. Our identities are precious – we project them outwardly with clothes, facial expressions, name tags. This is why just the thought of someone else taking ours gives us goosebumps. The havoc caused, like in this episode of Family Guy where Peter steals the identity of a B-List actor, “On live television, he makes several remarks in very bad taste that ruin James’ career, and to top it off announces that he will be staring in a shallow comedy based on 9/11, called 9/11 “two thousand fun”. Where he will be a window washer in the World Trade Center, where he has just finished washing all the windows, only to turn around and see the plane coming, to which he says, “Come On”.” Every single one of us is able to cultivate his or her own identity, and that one should be enough.