City of Westfield - Identity Theft

Recent news events have brought to light how easy it is for unscrupulous hackers to steal our identities and ruin our financial lives. Just last month, federal authorities said they cracked a ring responsible for the largest theft in U. S. history. With a few keystrokes 30,000 people’s identities, bank accounts and credit card profiles were savaged. A software company employee is charged with stealing access codes and passwords for 30,000 people whose bank accounts were drained, while credit card accounts were opened in their names and used to buy merchandise and establish lines of credit. Losses are estimated at $2.7 million and are expected to grow. Victim’s are left on their own to straighten out their affairs and restore their financial standing in the community which in most cases can take years. Here’s what you can do to minimize your chance of becoming a victim:

Check your credit reports once a year from all three credit reporting agencies: Trans Union(800-888-4213, www.transunion.com,) Experian (888-397-0742, www.experian.com ) and Equifax (800-685-1111, www.equifax.com).
Don’t put your Social Security number or your drivers license number on your checks.
Watch for people who seem to be eavesdropping on information you give out orally.
Place passwords on your credit card, bank and phone accounts.
Secure personal information in your home, especially if you have roommates, employ outside help or are having service work done at home.
Deposit outgoing mail in post office boxes or at your local post office, rather than in an unsecure mailbox.
Try not to store financial information on your laptop computer. If you do, use a strong password- a combination of letters, numbers and symbols. Don’t use the automatic log-in feature that saves your user name and password so you don’t have to enter them each time you log in or visit a web site. That way, if your laptop is stolen, it’s harder for the thief to access your personal information.

When it comes to preventing identity theft, the only way to maintain power over your financial information is by limiting other people’s knowledge of and access to it. Remember “Scientia Est Potentia” Knowledge Is Power.

Privacy Statement
Terms of Use