Also called a VPN, this data-encryption software hides your identity , online activity and communications from unwanted eyes. Traditionally used for secure connections into corporate networks, many users are now using them to secure their presence in cyberspace by hiding their IP address from other users, making their activities invisible. Install antivirus, antispyware and email-filtering software. Set these tools to automatically scan every 24 hours for possible points of concern, and always make sure you have the most updated versions.
The Federal Trade Commission offers further information on how to keep personal information secure , safeguard your identity and even freeze your credit if necessary.
If you think you've been hacked, or spotted warning signs of identity theft, Nichols recommends immediately taking the following precautions. Pull your credit report. Every year, you're entitled to one free credit report from each of the main credit bureaus — Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.
You can access these reports for free at annualcreditreport. If you think you've been hacked, pull your credit report immediately to look for unauthorized inquiries. Create an Identity Theft Report. Found at IdentityTheft. The online report asks a few questions about your situation, then devises a personal recovery plan. Place an extended fraud alert on your credit file.
An extended fraud alert requires a business to verify your identity before it issues new credit. This alert lasts seven years and is available only to identity theft victims. To get an extended fraud alert, you'll first need to fill out an Identity Theft Report. Make a list of fraudulent activity. Applications to open new accounts, as well as the accounts that have already been fraudulently opened in your name, must be noted and forwarded to the three credit bureaus and listed on your Identity Theft Report.
Phone the creditors. The "new applications" department will be your first stop at arresting any further harm if the application is still in process. File a police report and fraud affidavit.
These can be obtained from your creditor s or the Federal Trade Commission if these businesses accept the FTC's forms, and provide copies of these documents and any additional necessary paperwork to creditors' fraud departments.
Provide creditors' fraud departments with the details and contacts. It will take up to 90 days to conduct a full investigation. Obtain letters from your creditors.
These letters should state that the fraudulence on your account has been confirmed, resolved and removed from your account. Then make sure that your creditors have expunged this negative reporting on your account and that a letter stating this has been sent to all three credit reporting bureaus. As a backup, you should personally send a copy of these letters to the credit reporting agencies as well.
The website is legitimately indexed into search engines such as yahoo or Google so that during the normal course of searching for products or services individuals can find these offers.
Once the individual access the website the user is given incentives and persuaded in such a way that the individual becomes susceptible to give up his or her personal identifying information to take advantage of the offer being given. An example of this would be when you are purchasing a normally high priced item over the internet, such as a video game system, and you find a website that has a much lower price.
You may be tempted to purchase this item at a lower price but you do not realize that you are accessing a fake website. Another example is a job website that may offer a higher salary than the same job by other companies in that industry. To protect yourself, before submitting any information or downloading any attachments, research the company. If you have never heard of the company or the offer, contact competitors and question the legitimacy of what is being offered. If you are purchasing something, make sure the padlock is visible in the right hand corner of the website scrollbar.
Another resource to verify if a website is legitimate is www. This website contains reviews of websites along with message boards for up to date phishing and identification scams going on. SMiShing In this scheme, the identity thief sends spam text messages posing as a financial institution or other legitimate entity.
The text message has a sense of urgency, and can scare you into thinking there is a serious emergency by leading you to believe you will suffer financial losses or fees if there is no response. This may lead you to disclose personal identifying information by clicking on the link that appears on the text message.
Do not dial back the unknown number, you would only be providing the spammer some of the information they need from you. Look through the phone book or the internet for a number to contact the organization that is supposedly contacting you. Verify that your information is actually needed because you have been solicited for information through text messaging.
If you find that the request is not legitimate, contact your cell phone provider and alert them of the scheme. If you find you have become a victim of identity theft, read our What To Do If Your Identity Is Stolen web page for steps to follow that can help you restore your credit.
Malware Based Phishing This scheme occurs when the thief attaches a harmful computer program made to look helpful onto emails, websites, and other electronic documents on the Internet. This type of computer program is called malware. The malware uses key loggers and screen loggers to record your keyboard strokes and sites that you visit on the Internet.
The malware sends the information to the schemer who is located at another location using the Internet. An example of this type of phishing is an email disguised as coming from Norton Anti-Virus.
The message prompts you to install an updated web browser to increase your computer security. You, click on the link and download the supposed updated browser but in reality you have just downloaded malware. To protect yourself from this type of scheme, use caution before downloading or installing any program on the web.
Tell the legitimate company that you have received an email requesting that you download a specific file, and that you would like to know if there was any legitimacy to it. Do not reply the email message; the attacker could trick you into believing that the email is authentic.
Moreover, by replying to the email message, you would be giving some of your information to the attacker. If the company tells you that email is not legitimate, report the phishing attack to the Internet Crime Complaint Center IC3 at www.
These email messages offer you opportunities for scholarships, business partnerships, or free products. In some instances, the spammer pretends to be a financial institution or organization you might belong to. The spam is sent to prompt you to provide your personal identifying information.
Research the company and the opportunity or offer advertised. This can be done through a search on the internet or by contacting the company directly. Be extremely cautious of bogus offers. You can Google the offer given to see if others have received the same offer, or check www.
Usually people post messages declaring the Promotion as a scam or verifying it as being legitimate. Check out the website www. If you find that the company is illegitimate, report the phishing attack to the Internet Crime Complaint Center IC3 at www. Spear Phishing This scheme is very similar to the email phishing scam, except it attacks businesses.
Spear phishers send emails to almost every employee of an organization and can be written to look like it has been sent by a division within the organization such as the IT or the human resources department. For instance, the email might state that every employee must send their user name and password for verification purposes.
You should protect yourself by contacting the network administrator or the individual that supposedly sent the email to verify that such information is needed. Do not reply back the email. Notify the head of the division or individual that supposedly sent you the email that you and other colleagues have been solicited for information.
You can also find more information on what to do through the section on this website entitled Preventing Identity Theft or visit the U.
Department of Justice website at www. Top of Page. Consider these as well:. Get tips to prevent identity theft from ever happening. Insecure Online Data The digital era has brought many conveniences, from making purchases without leaving home to viewing accounts and paying bills with the click of a mouse. While our increasingly paperless lives may lessen the risk of off-line causes of identity theft—such as stolen mail or trash—they also render us vulnerable in new ways. Here are a few examples:.
Discover more about how protect yourself from i dentity theft online. Company-Wide Data Breaches Among the leading causes of identity theft, data breaches stand out as they can rapidly impact a massive group of people. Consider the Target incident, where hackers gained access to the credit card information of millions of shoppers at the major national retailer.
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