How to Stop Computer and Internet Identity Theft

Identity Theft: To have your personal information stolen by a criminal who uses it to commit fraud in your name, leaving you with the burden of proving your innocence. 

Identity Theft is not only becoming more rampant each year, but the criminals behind these crimes are using an ever-growing roster of tools to conduct them. The Internet offers exciting and convenient ways to shop, pay bills, and manage your money. But criminals can use the Internet’s relative anonymity to prey on users not fully educated on the threats they face. Even computers not used for Internet access can be a jackpot for an ID thief looking for personal and financial information. Don’t let yourself be a target! Enjoy all your computer and the Internet have to offer, but follow these tips to protect yourself at all times: 

• When accessing a website to retrieve or enter sensitive information, ensure you are connected via a secure connection that will shield the data traveling back and forth from prying eyes. You’ll need to make sure you know what icon your browser displays when connected to a secure website and that the icon is present before you conduct online business. Also make sure the web address (or “URL”) your browser window displays begins with “https”).
• Never click on links sent to you via unsolicited e-mail. Links can be faked to look legitimate and so can the bogus websites they take you to. Visit a company’s website by opening a browser window and manually typing an address you know to be accurate.
• Never provide financial or personal info over the Internet unless you are 100% certain who you are dealing with, and that you have initiated the contact. No legitimate company surprises customers with an Internet conversation requesting personal info.
• Make sure any accounts that allow computer access are password protected.
• Never use obvious passwords, such as your mother’s maiden name, any part of your birth date or Social Security Number, the name or birthday of a family member, your address, etc.
• Ensure any computer files containing financial or personal information cannot be easily accessed by others. Set your computer to require a password at each log-on and set it to log-off automatically after a brief period of inactivity. In addition, individually password-protect sensitive files so they cannot be opened by others.
• Ensure any computer you use to store or access sensitive information is protected with continually-updated anti-virus and anti-spyware software.
• Ensure you access the Internet from behind a firewall (most routers provided by Internet Service Providers include a firewall).
• Regularly update your computer’s Windows or Mac OS operating system with the free security and performance updates that become available.
• When replacing computers or hard drives, ensure the data on outgoing equipment is 100% erased and irretrievable before letting go of it. Use a utility specifically designed for this purpose…simply trashing a deleting files does NOT accomplish this!

Ask any business to whom you provide personal information to explain their policy for protecting that information, and with whom they may share it. Make sure you’re comfortable with what you learn.