Internet and Identity Theft Safety
Two of the fastest growing crimes in the United States continue to be identity theft and Internet fraud. The following information can be very beneficial in helping you to avoid becoming a victim of computer related crimes:
- Safeguard your personal information, such as your social security number, credit card and debit card numbers.
- Do not give out personal information over the telephone, through the mail or over the Internet, unless you have initiated the contact or are familiar with whom you are dealing.
- Keep in mind that most banks and credit card companies will never ask you to send them your account and/or personal information over the Internet.
- Shred all documents that contain any personal or sensitive information.
- Check your credit report regularly (at least once a year).
- Watch your credit card and debit statements for any unauthorized charges.
- If banking, shopping or paying bills on-line, make sure the site is a secure site by looking for the “s” on the end of “http” in the URL line.
- Free on-line software can crack various types of passwords in the amount of time listed below;
- Numbers only (1739509) = 1 minute;
- Common words and numbers (cat4923) = 21 minutes;
- Alpha only (iluvmycat) = 5 hours 28 minutes;
- Alpha, numeric, and uppercase (iLvMyCat3) = 33 weeks; and
- Alpha, numeric, uppercase, and character (iL!M*Ct3) = 19 years.
- Choose your password carefully.
- Do not use your mother’s maiden name, your birth date, the last four digits of your social security number or a similar series of numbers as a password.
- Do not use actual words such as “password”, “savings”, etc. as a password.
- Try to use a combination of seven (7) characters that include at least one of each of the following: upper case letter, lower case letter, number and other character (#, !, $, *) in your passwords (i.e. xA$5w0r, $Aw#nG!).
- Be alert to phony Internet scams such as lottery scams, bogus employment scams, investment scams and phishing scams (attempts to obtain your sensitive information by deception). Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is!
- When utilizing social networking sites such as Facebook:
- Be sure to safeguard your personal information.
- Don’t believe everything you read.
- Avoid meeting an Internet acquaintance in person.
- If you must meet in person, take a trusted friend.
- Never meet an Internet acquaintance alone!
If you do fall victim to identity theft or an Internet scam, report it to local law enforcement authorities immediately!
