As if identity theft wasn't scary enough, last month's string of fraudulent withdrawals from hundreds of accounts at local financial institutions gave area residents more reason to worry.
Luckily, in some cases consumers can prevent scams with the right defensive measures.
Some strategies should be obvious. For example, don't use "password" as a password, shred old bills, and don't keep pin numbers written down in a wallet or purse.
But as crooks get smarter, common sense may not be enough to stave off scams.
While 1st Source Bank officials said an online data breach was most likely to blame for scams related to their ATMs, Ray Miller, owner of Michiana Mobile Computer Repair, speculates that skimmers may have been part of the problem.
Skimmers are devices that can read a card's magnetic strip when placed over an ATM card slot.
"Skimmers will have a little pinhole camera mounted in them so they can see the key presses and store the pin numbers there," Miller said.
Miller, who deals with security issues daily in his business, also warns against card catchers. These devices are thin strips of metal or plastic a thief places inside the card slot, allowing cards to be inserted but not ejected. Victims believe their cards have been "eaten" by the ATM, and when they leave to report the problem to their local branch, the thief can remove both the strip and the card.
1st Source Bank's online breach is not the norm in causes of identity theft, according to a study by the Better Business Bureau in 2005.
The study found that the theft of online information accounted for only 11.6 percent of identity fraud cases. In addition, the study found that half of all identity thefts were committed by someone the victim already knew.
To prevent against offline fraud, the identity theft protection company LifeLock recommends dropping off outgoing mail in official post office boxes rather than leaving it in a home mailbox.
"A lot of criminals will steal people's mail for credit card numbers or account numbers and steal that information," Miller said. "People stealing trash is not as frequent but it still happens, so people should use shredders."
Though paper is the biggest target of identity theft, public computers and wireless Internet connections present dangers that users often don't think about, Miller said.
"What most people aren't aware of is that when they use Wi-Fi hot spots, anyone who's on the same hot spot can use any shared folders or files they have on their computer," Miller said.
He also warns against packet monitoring software, which hackers can use to intercept and log traffic passing through the network.
"For any traffic they're sending back and forth in a Wi-Fi hot spot, anyone who's on the same network can view what they're sending," Miller said.
Keylogging software may also be a danger on public computers, Miller said. Someone could install such software on a public computer, store the keystrokes users type with a USB device, and collect the user names and passwords logged weeks later.
Some recent legislation aims to protect consumers against fraud. Because of the Fair and Accurate Credit and Transactions Act of 2003, consumers can receive a free annual credit report from one of the three major bureaus, Equifax, TransUnion, or Experian. Consumers who suspect fraud on their accounts can receive credit reports for free as well.
While prevention may be the best weapon against identity theft, people can minimize damages by checking on their accounts daily via the Internet, Miller said.
"ATM debit cards are really easy to keep track of," he said. "For myself, every day I'm downloading and updating transactions and comparing them to things my wife and I have done."
By SUPRIYA SINHABABU
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