Offline Identity Theft
The Internet may help facilitate identity theft, but the crime was around before the Internet existed. The mail remains one of the weak links in efforts to prevent identity theft. The Postal Inspection Service, the law enforcement arm of the U.S. Postal Service, is very involved in investigating and deterring identity theft. The Postal Inspection Service offers tips for preventing identity theft, as well as links to news stories on ID theft investigations on its Web site.
There are some very simple tips to help you prevent identity theft via the mail. Much like e-mail, be aware of any offers you receive in the postal mail or by phone asking for personal information, especially if they offer a prize or other incentive.
Be careful what you put in your mailbox. Most mailboxes in the United States are not secure. When possible, deposit outgoing mail, especially checks or other mail with personal information, in a post office mailbox or in a mail slot within the post office itself. Do not leave your delivered mail in your mailbox any longer than you must, and take care to have your mail delivery held or arrange for a trusted friend or family member to pick it up if you are away.
Earlier we mentioned those offers for pre-approved credit cards that are sent by mail. Because they can be removed from a mailbox or intercepted somewhere in the mail delivery process, they are a risk factor for identity theft. You can remove your name from the lists the credit bureaus sell to credit card companies by calling 1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688). Your name will be removed for two years. If you'd like to be permanently removed, you can have a form sent to you. For more information on opting out of credit offers, visit http://www.creditsourceonline.com/opt-out.html
Despite all the electronic means of committing crime these days, some of the old tried and true methods are still successful. Good old eavesdropping or "shoulder snooping" can still be used to gather personal information. Use care when providing personal information over the phone, especially in a public place or an office. You never know who is listening.
Be aware of your surroundings at the bank or at the ATM machine. Watch out for people snooping or trying to peek at your access code. Use only ATMs with access control on the doors and well-lit vestibules.
Some people go to the extent of shredding credit card bills and other personal information before they dispose of it. Sales of shredders jumped 50 percent at Staples and 30 percent at Office Max in 2003, according to a report by CNN. Staples alone moved 1.3 million shredders in 2002. Shredding certainly gets the job done, but so will ripping up the documents into small pieces. Live in a cold climate and use your fireplace? Next time you're starting a fire try using a piece of paper you want to destroy instead of newspaper.
If you store a lot of personal information, from credit card statements to insurance policies, in your home or office, keep it in a secure place. Use a file cabinet with a lock, and use a cabinet or a safe large enough that it can't easily be removed in the case of a burglary.
Identity Theft Legislation
Legislation is becoming a popular way to combat identity theft, but questions about the effectiveness of such an approach remain. There are almost too many pieces of legislation at the state level to count. Laws that protect privacy also have an impact on identity theft because of how they require personal data be stored, secured, or shared. Legislation like the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 may help fight identity theft by allowing consumers to get one free credit report every year, but that is only part of the law.
The National Council of State Legislators publishes a list of state identity theft legislation at http://www.ncsl.org/programs/lis/privacy/idt-01legis.htm.
The approach of much of the identity theft legislation written in recent years is to make it easier for consumers to detect and recover from identity theft. In some cases, identity theft has been defined in legislation to become its own crime and sentencing guidelines have been added or strengthened. The Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act, enacted by Congress in 1998, is the federal law making identity theft a crime in the United States.
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