IDENTITY THEFT The Name of the Game By Laura Bonne It is the type of crime most of us could not have even imagined a decade ago, and yet today identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the United States. According to the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC"), for the seventh year in a row identity theft tops the list, accounting for 36 percent of the complaints the FTC received in 2006. Identity theft occurs when someone uses another's personal information - name, Social Security number, credit card number - without permission and for the purpose of committing fraud or other crimes. The FTC estimates that as many as 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year, enabling thieves to fraudulently obtain credit cards, rent apartments, or establish telephone or other service accounts. What's more, often the crime goes unnoticed until the victim opens the credit card statement at the end of the billing cycle. The financial haggles that follow wreak havoc on credit reports and sometimes result in losses of jobs, loans, housing and/or other opportunities. Never has the trusted adage rung more true: "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." MSNBC's Rick Smith, author of "Authentication from Passwords to Public Keys," reminds individuals and business owners alike to protect themselves by: 1. burning or shredding mail or financial papers containing personal information. Never recycle them! 2. call 1-888-5OPTOUT and ask credit card companies to stop sending pre-approved credit card applications to your home. They are ticking identity theft time bombs. 3. asking credit card firms to cease delivery of "convenience checks." They, too, are ticking time bombs. 4. taking advantage, right away, of one free credit report each year. Obtain it as soon as possible and review it carefully. 5. ordering a credit report a month or more before making large purchases or applying for credit, to be sure there are no surprises in your history. 6. hassling companies that ask for personal information, such as phone number at a checkout line. The harder we make it on companies, the less they will be inclined to continue the practice. 7. deleting e-mails that ask for personal information. 8. hanging up on telemarketers, particularly those who seem to be fishing for personal information, such as your birthday. 9. limiting the number of credit cards you hold, and religiously inspecting financial statements each month. The sooner an identity theft incident is discovered, the better. 10. Most of the time, you can't prevent an ID theft incident from occurring, because two-thirds of the time a company that leaked the data is to blame. Be prepared, then, and be organized. Save paper bank records for at least a year in order to prove your account balance in the event of an ID theft incident. *Abundance-of-caution tip: Run your own background check to find out if your identity has been stolen. To further thwart criminals' efforts, security experts agree that computer users should utilize the following safeguards concerning passwords: DO: - Use combinations of upper- and lower-case characters, as well as symbols and numbers (steering clear of commonly used words in dictionary databases). - Pick long words. The more characters, the harder it is to hack. Combine two unusual, long words around a special character (e.g. labyrinthine;gesticulate). - Use the first letter of each word from a favorite saying, song lyric or poem (e.g., "Somewhere over the Rainbow" becomes SOTR or sOtR). - Select foreign-language words. Even more effective, combine foreign-language words with English words). DO NOT: - use a word that appears in a common dictionary. - use a common word that simply ends with a special character or a number (Super1 or Flash$). Hackers are aware of this trick. - use the same password multiple times. (Debit and credit cards should not have the same PIN numbers, for example.) - use a series, either forwards or backwards (e.g., ABCDEF, 654321). - use common keyboard sequences like QWERTY. - use an easily guessed word like your name or any variation of it. - use something people might be able to guess from your wallet if it's stolen, like a child's name or your favorite sports team. Taking all the necessary precautions and following experts' advice will certainly diminish your chances of becoming an identity theft victim; unfortunately, such ruthless crooks often will stop at nothing. The best way to find out if your identity has been stolen is to monitor credit card accounts and bank statements monthly while checking credit reports on a regular basis. At the very least, doing so may limit the extent of damage caused by identity theft. What should you do if your identity is stolen? Filing a police report, checking your credit reports, notifying creditors, and disputing any unauthorized transactions are some of the steps you must take immediately to restore your good name. The Identity Theft Data Clearinghouse was created pursuant to the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act of 1998 for tracking identity theft complaints. The FTC's Identity Theft Toll-Free Hotline number is 1-877-IDTHEFT (438-4338). Armed with the knowledge of how to protect oneself and how to take action, potential victims everywhere are in a position to frustrate and undermine identity thieves' intentions. Visit the FTC's website for a collection of easy-to-use, informative materials designed to prevent identity theft from reaching your wallet. Laura Bonne is editor of the Consumer Credit Collector ADVISOR, the monthly newsletter debt collectors have relied on for more than 15 years.  Need help for your debt collectors? Don't let another month go by without the Consumer Credit Collector ADVISOR newsletter. For more than 16 years, the ADVISOR has delivered the support, guidance, news, how-tos and encouragement your collectors need! Call today (651-308-7944) to request a sample or visit www.ccc-advisor.com. Print and PDF versions available.