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Bureau advises residents to protect themselves against identity theft
by Nick Wheeler
WHE02001@BYUI.EDU
Scroll Staff
If you got a check from BYU-Idaho this semester and threw away the stub, you may be setting yourself up for identity theft.
Identity theft is when an unknown party uses personal information of a victim for their own benefit, Kathryn Jones, President CEO of the Better Business Bureau serving Eastern Idaho and Western Wyoming, said.
With someone’s personal information, thieves have been known to clean out bank accounts, draw government benefits, get jobs and even buy houses under a stranger’s name.
Identity theft may seem like a small problem affecting only a few people, but it is the biggest criminal problem facing our area, Jones said.
Often victims of identity theft don’t know they are being victimized until creditors start to call.
“Most people aren’t even aware of it,” Jones said.
An identity thief can easily obtain information by searching through private documents and finding personal information like credit card and Social Security numbers. Credit card fraud accounts for 76 percent of all identity theft cases, Jones said.
Thieves often obtain credit card numbers through phone scams. Some scammers are able to obtain information by telling victims they have been entered into a contest or registered to win a prize.
Often these scammers obtain a victim’s trust and appear to be legitimate by telling people they know the first four digits of their credit card number.
However, most people don’t know that the first four numbers of both Mastercard and Visa cards are the same on all cards of that brand, Jones said.
“We have to learn to take care of ourselves,” Jones said.
Civilians can help protect themselves and their identity by shredding personal documents, checking their own credit and questioning those they give information to, Jones said.
Those concerned with having their identity stolen should check their credit at least once a year with one of the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian or TransUnion, Jones said.
The Better Business Bureau offers advice regarding the integrity of companies seeking personal information.
Banks in the Rexburg area were legally giving out personal information to other companies without the consent of the bank members until the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act was passed in the fall of 1999, Jones said.
The act required businesses to disclose privacy policies to customers regarding their own personal information.
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