The best approaches to child identity theft prevention are broken down into three categories: elementary school prevention, middle or junior high school prevention, and high school prevention. Each category has its own unique challenges. Younger children are the most vulnerable because of their inability to understand the complexity of child identity theft. It is uniquely challenging to make high school teens believe that the threat is real and can touch each of them through malware and devastating identity theft scams.
Our first challenge is elementary school. This is both the best place to obtain information for thieves, and the best place to start prevention steps for parents, teachers, and law enforcement. I have been proactive in crime prevention for my entire career as a law enforcement officer. The one thing that I recognize as consistent in every elementary school classroom I have been in is the décor of the room, which includes the children’s names.
In most all classrooms, teachers write children’s names on each of their desks. In some classrooms, teachers post children’s birthdays on a wall for celebration. Fun times for the children, right, as your name on the birthday wall means you are probably eating cupcakes on your special day to celebrate. While this might be fun for the children, and a mental break for hardworking teachers, it is child identity theft information for thieves. Take advantage of your next trip to your child’s class to see if you recognize security weaknesses, such as this example, and point them out to the teacher.
Middle or junior high school is a step up in responsibility and a taste of what is to come in the years ahead. While children at this age seem to have a grasp of operating computers, they do not understand the complex dangers the computer can bring. Parents and teachers can use this opportunity to start discussions on viruses, worms, and Trojan horses that steal information, and crash computers. This is also the age to advance your discussions on child identity theft and computer predators.
High schools present the greatest challenge. Teachers are shadowing less than in elementary and middle school, and students are expected to be more responsible. By this age, teens think they know more about computers than most parents, because many of their requested gifts center on the latest electronic gadgets on the market.
The truth is that teens are a big target for thieves because they interact more on the computer than any other age group. Teens are more likely to respond to ads or surveys, select free downloads, or interact with social media. Teens are also a big target for sexual predators. Successful approaches must include a partnership between parents, school administrators, and local law enforcement. Schools are definitely a target for child identity thieves regardless of the age group. We must use education and reinforce both the rules for usage and potential computer dangers.
Question #29: What story does my office cubicle tell about me and my children?
What does your office, work space, or cubicle say about the employee and their family? Sit at your desk, or at a coworker’s desk, and be objective: tell me what you see. Where did they go to college? What is their favorite sports team? Did they serve in the military? Have they had their picture taken with any celebrities or political figures? Are they married?
More importantly, what does your office say about your children? What sports do they play? Where do they go to school? Where do they vacation? What are the approximate ages of the children? What are the likes and dislikes of the children?
A professional’s office is a display of who the individual is and where he or she has been in life. Identity thieves seeking to steal children’s identities look beyond the certificates on the wall. They seek family photos and personal information. Whether it is a photo thumb-tacked on a cubicle wall or a photo in a frame, a thief looks at your work area for intelligence.
Using the theory that knowledge is power, what could someone cleaning your office after hours learn about you and your children? If you place notes to yourself in your work space, what do they say? Does your child have a doctor’s appointment? Do you need to return a call to their sports coach? Has your child’s teacher requested a conference? These questions and others seem harmless, but an identity thief can turn them into intelligence. Identity thieves can return your phone calls to a teacher and pose probing questions for verification.
The next concern is the information you do not lock up after hours in your work space. Your desk, private file drawer, or locker is usually considered a private area where you can keep information and items that only you can access. You may not have an office to lock, but if you do, is it locked when you are away from your desk, when the office is closed, or on days when you are not at work? If the answer is no, then it is accessible to coworkers, service providers, custodians, and visitors when you are not there.
Have you ever worked with a nosy coworker? How about a micromanaging boss? Who can see your computer screen? Who has access to your computer password? Is your password your children’s names? Slow down and take the time to make sure your work space is secure.
Here are some tips for protecting your work area:
Lock your office after hours.
Request that your office be cleaned during business hours.
Encourage your business to institute a visitor pass program if you do not have one.
Do not leave your purse or wallet unsecured at work.
Limit information about your children in your office.
Do not store information about your children and family on your computer.
Wipe all hard drives on old computers turned in to get rid of personal information.
Do not leave personal U.S. mail on your desk.
Lock up any flash drives or external hard drives not being used.
Be observant of anyone who lingers around when you are working on the computer.
Create computer passwords that are difficult for thieves to figure out.
Set your computer screen to default to a password when you walk away for any period of time.
Do not leave your password underneath your mouse pad or keyboard.
Be mindful of the personal information you put on a calendar in your office.
Shred all paperwork when discarding it; use a cross-cutting shredder.
Question #30: How does mail theft provide identity thieves with valuable information?
Stealing your mail can be a bonanza for identity thieves. In addition to credit card numbers, thieves can get their hands on information about bank accounts, insurance, household utilities, credit bills due, names of house occupants, magazines subscribed to, cell phone or home phone bills, records of calls, and more.
Even more important than bills is the knowledge that can be gained about your children. If someone steals your mail today, what you fail to see might not ever be missed: magazines your children subscribe to, offers they might receive, or cards they should be getting. Eventually, you might find out about insurance benefit statements missed, letters mailed from your child’s school, bills received in their name, or a birthday card a relative sent that wasn’t received.
Mail theft can be passive or aggressive. A passive theft is when someone, such as your letter carrier, newspaper carrier, or anyone depositing something in your mailbox, examines your mail without tampering or opening it. Aggressive theft is when someone steals your mail, opens it, whether covertly or overtly, and examines it. In either case, information is gained about your children and your family.
As important as what mail items you receive is what mail items you send, and how you mail them from your home. I call this the “red flags of easy theft.” Imagine yourself driving around from 4 a.m. to 5 a.m. in the morning while people are sound asleep. What do you see? In most neighborhoods, whether urban or rural, you can find multiple mailboxes with their red flags up to notify the postal carrier of mail awaiting pickup. While this was a safe option of mail delivery some time ago, in current day’s society of identity theft the red flag screams “OPEN ME AND STEAL MY CONTENTS.” The mailbox red flag is great for criminals b
ecause they do not have to go house to house looking for items to steal—they just need to stop at the boxes with the flag up.
How do you defeat mailbox theft? The best way is to take your old box down and replace it with a locking-type mailbox. Ensure that what you purchase is approved by the U.S. Postal Service, but do your family a favor and replace it now. This change will prevent those who are not supposed to have access to your mailbox from gaining access and stealing the mailbox contents. If you cannot afford to replace your mailbox, then you need to time your mail deposit or take your mail to a U.S. postal drop-off. Timing your deposit means knowing what time your letter carrier comes by and dropping your mail in the box just before he or she arrives.
The government has recognized that mail theft and identity theft are problems. The U.S. Congress passed a law called the Social Security Number Confidentiality Act of 2000. This law helps with passive identity theft of mail by requiring the secretary of the treasury to ensure that Social Security numbers are not visible through or on unopened mailings the government mails out. Mailings, such as government checks, are now designed so that you cannot see an individual’s Social Security number without opening the mail. Now that the government has done their part, have you done yours?
Here are some tips to help prevent mail fraud:
Never respond to an organization with a postcard containing family information.
Always deposit mail in a locked mail container or at the post office.
Get to know your letter carrier and your newspaper deliverer.
Never leave checks or money orders in your personal mailbox.
If you vacation, ask the post office to hold your mail.
If you have any reason to suspect that your mail has been stolen or tampered with, contact your local post office and ask them for the contact information of the U.S. postal inspector responsible for your area.
Question #31: Why would someone steal my household garbage?
I am an avid recycler. Recently, I went to the recycle site run by my county government to drop off my goods. The drop-off site was located in front of a local fire station. They had separate containers for plastic, mixed paper, and newspaper. The newspaper container was a large dumpster. I dropped off the plastic, then dumped my mixed paper and made my way to the newspaper container. As I opened the door to the container, I was startled to see a woman sitting inside, right square in the middle of the container on top of the newspapers.
I assume this dumpster diver was a newspaper coupon collector, but for all I know she may have been in the mixed paper dumpster before she got into the newspapers. In my case, I contacted the county recycling agency to explain the situation. To my surprise, the county agency had no signs posted stating that you could not get into the containers. I could not help but wonder what information in that container was at risk.
What you throw in the trash could be a goldmine to someone looking to steal your family’s identity. Documents such as insurance benefit statements, school documents, medical bills, credit card receipts, voided checks, utility bills, tax forms, and family birthday cards are valuable finds for someone looking to steal an identity. Once you dump your trash in a community dumpster, school or office trash can, or take your trash container to the end of your driveway, an army of identity thieves is waiting to go through your refuse for information.
The method of sifting through trash is affectionately referred to as “dumpster diving.” It is the process of stealing someone’s discarded items and physically sifting through their trash. A criminal might look through your employee trash can at work, go through the trash container outside your child’s school, or steal your curbside trash before the trash collector has the opportunity to pick it up. If your first reaction is the feeling that this cannot be legal, you are incorrect. Discarded trash is the property of the person who possesses it. In other words, once you throw it away, you lose the right of privacy concerning the trash items.
Dumpster diving is one of the most overlooked and potentially divulging methods available to identity thieves. Face it, we have all accidentally thrown something in the trash and had to go digging through the nasty garbage looking for an item or piece of paper. Our first reaction is disgust at the thought of going through the trash. To an identity thief, garbage theft is much like digging for gold. They go through your trash seeking that one nugget of information that will bring him or her a rush of excitement.
I know what you are saying to yourself by now upon reading this: garbage theft is one of those things I have heard about, but I do not believe people really do it except in cases of espionage or divorce. I am here to tell you that not only is it real, but it is one of the easiest methods of stealing your information. Remember, you freely put personal trash out for someone to take it away; thus, it doesn’t need to be stolen.
Always think “identity theft.” When you are at work or on the road, at a fast-food restaurant, at an interstate rest stop, or staying in a hotel or anywhere else you throw something away, think about what it is you have in your hand before discarding it. Always ask yourself what will be known about you or your family if someone finds that trash.
Precautionary measures are your best defense. What precautionary measures have you taken in your household to protect your children before throwing away garbage? Have you properly shredded any and all information that contains personal data? Have you used a clear bag that advertises what is available for the trash collector to be tempted by? If you take your trash to a government-owned dumpster, when is the pickup? Does the trash sit for a week or more, open to those wishing to dig through it?
You control how your family processes your trash. Just remember that once you let it go, it’s trash, and now the property of someone else. Protect yourself with good preventive policies regardless of where you may be.
Question #32: What is the best way to protect data on my laptop?
Society’s fast pace makes us increasingly mobile as a workforce. Unfortunately, this can put our children at risk because of the personal data that family members, businesses, schools, and medical providers store on their laptop computers. Laptop thefts, data breaches, and improperly discarded laptops put our children at risk every day.
Most laptop thefts occur not only for the value of the laptop itself, but for the data that has been stored on it. The Star Tribune in Minneapolis, Minnesota, published an article in September of 20116 detailing the theft of a laptop computer from a car parked at a restaurant. This computer contained the information of approximately 14,000 patients of a local health care system, and 2,800 patients of a local medical center. Unfortunately for the patients, the data on the computer was not encrypted.
Most readers would think that this type of breach in security is rare. The same article stated that it was the second time in the same year in the twin cities of Minneapolis–Saint Paul that a stolen laptop contained high numbers of victims’ personal information. The companies that cause this type of catastrophe can purchase identity theft protection for your family, but the fact still remains that your name, date of birth, Social Security number, and potentially your medical history are out there in someone else’s hands.
Laptop computers are a target when left in your vehicle or when you travel through an airport, train station, or by ferry. Laptops are easy thefts when left in taxis, on airport baggage claim conveyor belts, airport security screening areas, at conferences, in hotels, or in rental cars. Laptop size is decreasing to increase their mobility, so they are getting harder to keep up with. The best way to protect data on your laptop is to minimize the personal information you store on it. Forty-two percent of data breaches in the United States occur due to lost or stolen laptops or other data-bearing devices, which is why laptops are targeted by identity thieves.
Beyond minimizing the information you store on your laptop, you must encrypt your data. The Ponemon Institute estimates that the average cost of an employee’s lost laptop is $49,246.7 This price includes the cost of
laptop replacement, loss of software, forensics, data breach, and investigation cost. The price also includes the loss of intellectual property rights, legal costs, and employee costs incurred in trying to locate the device.
While we can capture approximate costs of corporate computers, how do you put a price on stolen personal information, such as medical information and photographs? Encryption begins with development of passwords that are not easily guessed by thieves. Never use children’s names, pets’ names, or dates of significance. Use combinations of numbers, lower-case and upper-case letters, and special characters.
Here are a few tips for protecting your laptop:
Always keep your laptop physically with you when traveling through an airport, train station, or by another other form of transportation.
As with any computer, never discard a laptop unless you have wiped the hard drive clean of all personal and business information.
Ensure all data on your laptop is password protected.
Report any laptop theft to the police immediately.
If your laptop is stolen and contains family information, immediately place a ninety-day fraud alert on each family member’s credit file.
Back up the information on your laptop regularly and keep the backup information in a secure location.
Ensure flash drives are kept secure and files on them encrypted.
Question #33: Why should I safeguard my family luggage when traveling?
Your luggage often tells more of a story about you and your personal life than you realize. As intrusive as it may seem, your luggage contents, such as clothing items, toiletries, personal care items, books, and more, can share what you like and prefer with a thief. Complex items tell an even deeper story about you. Things such as medications in your luggage tell the sifter what ailments you have and what pharmacy you visit. The same is true of your children. Your child’s luggage may even go as far as to share his or her school name, emergency contact information, personal hobbies, and schedules of classes or upcoming commitments.
Child Identity Theft Page 8