Debt Consolidation and Credit Card Counseling

Caller ID is the latest tool in the identity theft arsenal

Identity theft is a problem that continues to grow, and as more and more people are fooled into giving up personal information, more people decide to get into the theft business. It’s certainly profitable; identity theft accounts for tens of millions worth of criminal activity each year.

Identity theft is the crime of someone stealing personal and financial information from an individual so that they can present themselves as that individual when applying for loans or credit. The criminal can then use that credit to spend thousands of dollars in the victim’s name, and the victim gets stuck with the bills. It takes, on average, about a year for the average victim to straighten out the mess. In the meantime, their own credit is ruined.

In this latest financial scam, criminals are using a new technique called “caller ID spoofing.” Caller identification allows people with telephones to see who is calling by looking at a small display adjacent to, or attached to, their telephone. In most cases, the display will reveal both the name and the phone number of the caller. With caller ID spoofing, a criminal can change the number that appears on the display, making it appear that the caller is someone from a trusted location, such as a bank, credit card company, or some government agency.

With a faked number, the caller can pretend to be a banker or government official, calling on some important business. They will often make up some story about why they are calling, but in the end, the will inevitably ask for personal information from the person they are calling. It may be a credit card number, bank account number, or a Social Security number or some other piece of information that can be exploited for financial gain. Since the call appears to be legitimate, the victims often comply, only to find out later that their information has been stolen and used for criminal purposes.

How can you protect yourself against these sorts of calls? Here are some tips:

• Don’t give out personal or financial information over the phone. Period. There is simply no legitimate reason for any institution to ask you for your Social Security number, bank account number or credit card number.
• If you think the request may be legitimate, ask the caller to submit their request to you in writing.
• Financial institutions don’t call people asking for their financial information. Why should they? They already have your personal information.
• Get an unlisted telephone number and don’t give out the number to anyone. If people don’t have your telephone number, then they can’t call you.

As time goes on and technology improves, criminals are becoming better and better at finding ways to steal the personal information from their victims. As such, it becomes harder to avoid being victimized yourself. You must take greater care to protect your personal information, as no one will do it for you.

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