In these times of financial hardship, the risk of identity theft is not one to be taken lightly. This was the theme of Megan Kenal, Crime Prevention Officer for the City of Lancaster, at a City presentation Feb. 23.
The presentation explored ways to protect yourself, methods of detecting any form of identity theft, as well as courses of action for victims of this increasingly devastating crime.
“Under California Penal Code 530.5 A, identity theft is defined as ‘every person who willfully obtains personal identifying information…of another person, and uses that information for any unlawful purpose, including to obtain, or attempt to obtain, credit goods, services, real property, or medical information without the consent of that person,’” said Kenal, stressing the all-encompassing nature of the law.
She said that the Code has become increasingly broad, as criminals have managed to find loopholes in former outlines.
According to Javelin Strategy & Research, identity theft is down from 11 million cases in 2009, to 8.1 million in 2010.
Though the number of cases is down, the average loss nearly doubled, and the average time lost “cleaning up” a misused account or closing unauthorized accounts is up 18 hours.
Javelin, said Kenal, is a consumer reported indicator that gathers all submitted cases and reports trends in areas such as identity theft.
Kenal stressed the importance of taking simple steps such as guarding your PIN number when entering it into a PIN pad, and avoiding using your credit card anywhere you would not trust with your information.
She also discussed new ways hackers and criminals can get information from your card. Things like “skimmers,” which are little memory cards used to scan the information off of stolen cards, are used. Radio Frequency ID chip readers can also steal information off of cards. To avoid this, Kenal said many credit card providers offer an opt-out option. One other common interception of information is known as “sniffing,” which is easily done when connected to public WIFI.
As far as detecting identity theft, Kenal said any abnormal amounts of junk mail, credit transactions you do not recognize or unexpected denial for credit may be indicators that you have fallen victim.
Kenal said young students should be aware that even student ID numbers used to obtain unauthorized transcripts or financial aid is punishable.
The free presentation was one of a series offered by the City of Lancaster’s Public Safety Office. The topics are based on specific citizen concerns and take place once a month in City Council Chambers. Some topics to come include home security and bug prevention, sexual assault, and child safety.
Kenal also mentioned considerations for a vacation safety presentation, especially pertinent to young people and safe traveling.
Presentations are typically filmed and available on the City of Lancaster’s Public Safety homepage for viewing.
Courses of action if you are a victim of identity theft can be found at www.ftc.gov/idtheft.
-By Natasha Castro
