July 29, 2005

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Classifieds

Publication Date: Friday, July 29, 2005

Who are you?

In our increasingly computerized age, a number or code now represents us in most financial transactions. This phenomenon has led to identity theft, a crime that didn't exist for people of earlier generations but is an increasing problem for our era. In fact, identity theft has grown in the past three years to be one of the most frequently committed crimes, said Detective Daly Harnish who specializes in high tech, fraud and identity theft crimes for the Pleasanton Police Department. That's why the police department held a presentation on identity theft and ways to prevent it last week. Forty-five people turned out for the lecture to learn more about the problem and find out prevention tips.

"Identity theft covers a whole range of topics," Harnish said. "It is the use of someone's personal information to establish credit to purchase things illegally, to just about anything you can think of where you'd use someone's personal information."

Identity criminals can vary in sophistication, ranging from drug addicts who dumpster dive to get personal information to organized crime rings who attract their victims via e-mail.

Of the latter type, one of the most notorious is the Nigerian e-mail scam. Essentially, how the scam works is the victim receives an e-mail from someone claiming to be a leader in a quasi-governmental organization in Nigeria. The "official" says that the Nigerian government has over-invoiced the organization to the tune of millions of dollars, but in order to get this extra money it has to be deposited in an overseas account. The victim is told that money will be needed in order to pay for visas, bribes and any other cost incurred in the transaction, but if he fronts the money and sends his bank account information, then those funds will be replaced with $10 million within a week.

"I think there is a combination of reasons why Americans fall for this scam. When someone is in need, we want to donate and help out. The other reason is greed. They like the idea that someone will just forward them money," Harnish said.

Variations on the Nigerian scam are now also coming from countries in the Eastern Bloc and Pacific Asia, but the Nigerian version remains the most common and one Pleasanton resident actually fell for it, Harnish said. The victim was a 23 year-old man who was starting a new business. In need of funds, when he saw the e-mail he thought it was a great opportunity and sent his account information. After his account was drained, he purchased an SUV, a BMW for his girlfriend and put a down payment on a Ruby Hill house.

"He perceived that he was a millionaire," Harnish said.

The police first uncovered the situation after being contacted by the SUV dealership who filed a report against the victim for writing a check on an empty account, Harnish said. The victim was arrested and spent a night in jail, but charges against him were dropped after it was found out that he was the one who actually got scammed and did not intentionally defraud the SUV dealership.

E-mail scammers also try to gain access to people's bank account information by posing as a legitimate financial organization and requesting confidential information. Known as "phishing," the scammer sends out an e-mail saying that your account will be closed, or citing some other urgent reason, if you do not send your bank account information and pass codes. This scam is so prevalent that banking institutions, such as Bank of the West, Wells Fargo and Bank of America, have links on their web sites informing their customers about these types of scams and how to report them. The most important thing to remember is that a bank or any other financial institution would never ask for your personal pass codes or bank information via an e-mail exchange and be instantly suspicious of any e-mail requesting such information.

While some people may think they are far too savvy to be duped by an e-mail scam, they can still find themselves as the victims of identity theft. The simplest, but potentially the most damaging, type is credit card fraud. This happens when people do not properly cover up their personal information and someone steals it to open a new credit card or account.

"It's the worse type in terms of once you discover it is very time consuming to try to clean it up. A victim can spend as much as 600 hours to clear their name," Harnish said.

Harnish said one of the best things to do to prevent identity theft is to frequently check your credit report. There are three credit reporting companies - Equifax, Experian and TransUnion - and each is required to provide one free annual report to anyone who requests. Harnish recommends spacing out the requests, contacting each company in four-month intervals, so that you can check your credit three times a year. When you get the report, check it thoroughly and make sure all accounts you closed are still closed and there are no new open accounts.

Buying and using a shredder to destroy all documents that contain personal information is key in protecting personal information and preventing identity theft, Harnish said. He also recommended not leaving outgoing mail in the home mailboxes to be picked up by the mailman.

"The little red flag on the mail box was good 40 or 50 years ago, but nowadays the mailman stops at every mail box, so there is no need for it," Harnish said. "I took the red flag off my box because it is just a signal for crooks. Think about what's in your outgoing mail: bills and checks with your routing number and what bank you use. Either do online bill pay or take your mail to the post office."

Harnish said the biggest misconception people have about identity theft is that it can't happen to them.

"It's the old thing where no matter how many (news) articles there are, people think, 'It won't happen to me,'" Harnish said. "Unfortunately, everyone will experience identity theft at least once, whether it's your credit card getting scammed to where someone is actually assuming your name."

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