Talk to Your College Students About Identity Theft
Posted on August 25, 2008 | Filed Under
Identity Theft Fraud
When we send our kids off to college, we usually advise them about safety issues since for many young adults, this will be their first time away from home. We hope they have listened to our past speeches about protecting themselves at night, locking their doors, keeping valuables out of sight in the car, etc. The one thing many parents do not stress enough to their college aged kids, is the importance of protecting their personal information.
Identity theft is one of the most prevalent crimes in the world today. College students tend to overlook the threat of identity theft, since their funds are usually limited after paying for school costs and living expenses. They need to know that it may not be the cash that they are after, but the personal information.
An identity thiefs goal is to take advantage of people with a good credit rating and use their identity to gain money or goods fraudulently. All they need is the right information from you social security number, date of birth, account numbers, drivers license, or credit card number. They particularly like college students since their credit records are usually a clean slate for them to build upon.\r
Identity theft can affect your credit rating, criminal record, ability to get loans, and even jeopardize your job opportunities.
So what should college students do to avoid identity theft? A simple and effective start would be to make sensitive information inaccessible. Follow these simple tips to help defend against identity theft while at school:
Keep your personal documents such as bank statements, credit card bills, etc., in a locked filing cabinet, or lock box. Never leave papers out for roving eyes.
Try not to let your roommates see where you store your valuables. Disappointing yes, but the fact is that the majority of college identity theft victims know the perpetrator.
Destroy all credit card offers before throwing away a shredder would be a wise investment (or smart gift from Mom and Dad).
Know your credit card and bank account balances check them often for unusual activity.
When using the internet, make sure that you have a secure connection and that your firewall is on.
Always log out of a web site when finished and dont just close the page! Never download attachments from unknown email senders in fact do not even open emails from unidentifiable sources.
If you blog, use Face Book, MySpace or any other social web site, be sure not to use your full name and whenever possible - limit any personal information from public view, such as your address, birthday, or cell phone number. Never display your picture along with personal information. Guard your Social Security Number. Just because there is a space for it on a form, or a doctors registration sheet, you do not have to supply that information.
You will meet many new people and form new friendships at this stage in life. It is natural for us to want to trust and believe that our new friends are honest and trustworthy, but keep in mind that you do not know everything about them or their friends.
Think this all sounds a bit paranoid? Really, it is not it is about being responsible in the real world. Having to face the consequences of identity theft can be a nightmare and take years to repair. Why risk ruining the best years of your life?
Student4Life is the author\'s site for college information. For more information regarding identity theft, visit her new site Identitytheft-101.com and associated blog.
As always, this article is free to use, as long as nothing is changed and the links remain intact (you can delete this sentence though)!
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