Pretexting: Your Personal Information
Revealed |
January 2001
When you think of your own personal
assets, chances are your home, car, and savings and investments come to mind.
But what about your Social Security number and your bank and credit card
account numbers? To people known as "pretexters," that information is a
personal asset, too.
Pretexting is the practice of getting your personal
information under false pretenses. Pretexters sell your information to people
who may use it to get credit in your name, steal your assets, or to investigate
or sue you. Pretexting is against the law.
How Pretexting
Works Pretexters use a variety of tactics to get your personal
information. For example, a pretexter may call, claim he's from a survey firm,
and ask you a few questions. When the pretexter has the information he wants,
he uses it to call your financial institution. He pretends to be you or someone
with authorized access to your account. He might claim that he's forgotten his
checkbook and needs information about his account. In this way, the pretexter
may be able to obtain personal information about you such as your Social
Security number (SSN), bank and credit card account numbers, information in
your credit report, and the existence and size of your savings and investment
portfolios.
Keep in mind that some information about you may be a matter
of public record, such as whether you own a home, pay your real estate taxes,
or have ever filed for bankruptcy. It is not pretexting for another person to
collect this kind of information.
There Ought to Be a
Law - There Is Under a new federal law - the
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act - it's illegal for anyone to:
-
use false, fictitious or fraudulent
statements or documents to get customer information from a financial
institution or directly from a customer of a financial institution.
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use forged, counterfeit, lost, or stolen
documents to get customer information from a financial institution or directly
from a customer of a financial institution.
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ask another person to get someone else's
customer information using false, fictitious or fraudulent statements or using
false, fictitious or fraudulent documents or forged, counterfeit, lost, or
stolen documents.
The Link to Identity
Theft Pretexting can lead to "identity theft." Identity theft
occurs when someone hijacks your personal identifying information to open new
charge accounts, order merchandise, or borrow money. Consumers targeted by
identity thieves usually don't know they've been victimized until the hijackers
fail to pay the bills or repay the loans, and collection agencies begin dunning
the consumers for payment of accounts they didn't even know they had.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, the most common
forms of identity theft are:
Credit Card Fraud - a credit card account is
opened in a consumer's name or an existing credit card account is "taken
over";
Communications Services Fraud - the identity
thief opens telephone, cellular, or other utility service in the consumer's
name;
Bank Fraud - a checking or savings account is
opened in the consumer's name, and/or fraudulent checks are written; and
Fraudulent Loans - the identity thief gets a
loan, such as a car loan, in the consumer's name.
The Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act makes it a
federal crime when someone: "knowingly transfers or uses, without lawful
authority, a means of identification of another person with the intent to
commit, or to aid or abet, any unlawful activity that constitutes a violation
of federal law, or that constitutes a felony under any applicable state or
local law."
Under the Identity Theft Act, a name or SSN is considered a
"means of identification." So is a credit card number, cellular telephone
electronic serial number or any other piece of information that may be used
alone or in conjunction with other information to identify a specific
individual.
Protect Yourself
Even though the laws are on your side, it's wise to take an active
role in protecting your information.
-
Don't give out personal information on the
phone, through the mail or over the Internet unless you've initiated the
contact or know who you're dealing with. Pretexters may pose as representatives
of survey firms, banks, Internet service providers and even government agencies
to get you to reveal your SSN, mother's maiden name, financial account numbers
and other identifying information. Legitimate organizations with which you do
business have the information they need and will not ask you for it.
-
Be informed. Ask your financial institutions
for their policies about sharing your information. Ask them specifically about
their policies to prevent pretexting.
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Pay attention to your statement cycles.
Follow up with your financial institutions if your statements don't arrive on
time.
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Review your statements carefully and
promptly. Report any discrepancies to your institution immediately.
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Alert family members to the dangers of
pretexting. Explain that only you, or someone you authorize, should provide
personal information to others.
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Keep items with personal information in a
safe place. Tear or shred your charge receipts, copies of credit applications,
insurance forms, bank checks and other financial statements that you're
discarding, expired charge cards and credit offers you get in the mail.
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Add passwords to your credit card, bank and
phone accounts. Avoid using easily available information like your mother's
maiden name, your birth date, the last four digits of your SSN or your phone
number, or a series of consecutive numbers.
-
Be mindful about where you leave personal
information in your home, especially if you have roommates or are having work
done in your home by others.
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Find out who has access to your personal
information at work and verify that the records are kept in a secure
location.
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Order a copy of your credit report from each
of the three major credit reporting agencies every year. Make sure it's
accurate and includes only those activities you've authorized. The law allows
credit bureaus to charge you up to $9.00 for a copy of your credit report.
Equifax: call: 1-800-685-1111 or
write: P.O. Box 740241 Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
Experian: call: 1-888-EXPERIAN (888-397-3742) or
write: P.O. Box 949 Allen TX 75013-2104
Trans
Union: call: 1-800-916-8800 or write: P.O. Box
1000 Chester, PA 19022
Your credit report contains information on where you work and
live, the credit accounts that have been opened in your name, how you pay your
bills and whether you've been sued, arrested or have filed for bankruptcy.
Checking your report periodically can help you catch mistakes and fraud before
they wreak havoc on your personal finances.
If You Think You're a
Victim If you think you've been a victim of pretexting, the
Federal Trade Commission recommends that you:
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Report it to your financial
institution immediately. Close accounts that have been tampered with
and open new ones with new Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) and
passwords.
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Contact the fraud departments of each
of the three major credit bureaus immediately. Tell them to flag your
file with a fraud alert including a statement that creditors should get your
permission before opening any new accounts in your name.
Equifax: call: 1-800-525-6285 and write: P.O. Box 740241,
Atlanta, GA 30374-0241 Experian: call: 1-888-EXPERIAN
(888-397-3742) and write: P.O. Box 949, Allen, TX 75013-0949 Trans
Union: call: 1-800-680-7289 and write: Fraud Victim Assistance
Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92634
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Contact your local police as soon as
possible, and ask to file a report. Even if the police can't catch the
pretexter, having a police report can help you in clearing up your credit
records later on.
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Contact the
Federal Trade Commission as soon as
possible. The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent,
deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide
information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file a complaint,
or to get free information on any of 150 consumer topics, call toll-free,
1-877-FTC-HELP, (1-877-382-4357) or use the complaint form at
www.ftc.gov. The FTC enters Internet,
telemarketing, and other fraud-related complaints into
Consumer
Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil
and criminal law enforcement agencies worldwide.
If you've been a victim of identity theft, file a complaint
with the FTC by contacting the FTC's Identity Theft Hotline by telephone:
toll-free 1-877-IDTHEFT (877-438-4338); TDD: 202-326-2502; by mail: Identity
Theft Clearinghouse, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW,
Washington, DC 20580; or online: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/.
The FTC has published a free 21-page booklet, Take Charge: Fighting Back Against Identity Theft. This comprehensive
guide includes information on what consumers can do to reduce their risk of ID
theft; how consumers can protect their personal information; the steps
consumers can take if they do become victims of ID theft; and a directory of
government resources available to ID theft victims. For your copy, call
1-877-IDTHEFT or visit http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/. |