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Up Front: Beware of identity theft
Emily Plihal
for Smoky River Express
We all know about those darned telemarketers who somehow get our names and numbers from endless databases in cyberspace. They phone at inopportune times, you know when you’re at work or enjoying a nice meal after a hard day at work. What should we look out for when these people phone? How do we protect ourselves from possible identity theft?
If you follow my example, you’ll likely just hang the phone up when you realize it’s a phony call or just not answer the 1-800 number. However; some people are more considerate than me and choose to be polite to these people who are trying to take precious minutes from our lives.
My favourite call is “Your call is being transferred to our call centre please hold.” Then, after 30 seconds of being on the line, a fog horn blares through the lines announcing you are the winner of some exotic cruise. Yeah, you picked me randomly from the approximately 7 billion people in the world. Ha.
If someone claiming to be your credit card company, be very cautious of the questions they’re asking. Firstly, if it is your credit card company they will already know all your information on your account. It is in front on them on the computer screen! Do not give ANY of your personal information to them, including the security number on the back of your card.
Remember, if what they are saying to you seems too good to be true, it is likely too good to be true. Use your common sense when these people call.
A prime example of these scams: A friend of mine told me last week that she had received a phone call. She explained when the number came up on her call display all that it said was “British Columbia”. I’m sure all of you have seen this before with a different province. I remember when I was in college I received a call from Ontario. Anyway, thinking it could be one of her family members from B.C., my friend answered the call.
When responded to, the woman on the line asked her if she’d like to lower her interest rate on her credit card. After my friend answered, “maybe”, the woman went on to ask her a bunch of personal questions. My friend was smart enough to say, “Don’t you have all of that information on your computer?” The woman hung up on my friend.
That is just one case of people trying to scam others. There are many cases, on a daily basis, where honest people are scammed out of their hard earned money.
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) maintains statistics on the complaints they receive at http://www.phonebusters.com/
Identity thieves are looking for the following information: your full name, date of birth, Social Insurance numbers, full address, mother’s maiden name, username and password for online services, driver's license number, personal identification numbers (PIN), credit card information (numbers, expiry dates and the last three digits printed on the signature panel), bank account numbers, signature, passport number.
With this information they could access your bank accounts and open new accounts, transfer bank balances, apply for loans, credit cards and other goods and services, make purchases, hide their criminal activities, or obtain passports or receive government benefits.
If you think your identity has been stolen, contact your local police force and file a report, contact your bank/financial institution and credit card company, and contact the two national credit bureaus and place a fraud alert on your credit reports. Protect yourself and your loved ones.
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