Protect Against Identity Theft

That was what Gary S. Brown, Westchester County's Director of Consumer Protection, discussed at Rye Rotary's weekly lunch meeting March 2. He said 250,000 cases of I.D. theft are reported across the country each year, 17,000 cases in New York alone. The data of over 100 million individuals has been compromised because of stolen laptops. Brown outlined a number of steps you can take to protect yourself before someone figures out how to use any of your data that might be at risk.

Don't discard trash with important personal information, such as credit card slips or old tax filings without shredding it. Buy your own shredder or use the county's traveling “Shred Mobile”.

Do not let criminals tap into WI-FI wireless connections at home or at your business. Someone sitting in a car across the street or in a nearby building can enter any of these networks and steal unprotected confidential information.

Security measures can be as simple as installing a network firewall, changing the system's default SSID (network name) or disabling SSID broadcasting — all of which can be achieved with minimal effort. Many businesses (large and small) have such networks. Westchester has the nation's first law requiring businesses to take minimum security measures to secure and prevent unauthorized (wireless) access to all such information.

Do not fall for scams using fake websites or reply to any e-mail's asking you for personal information, even if the e-mails warn you that accounts you have are going to be closed, if you don't provide the request information. Do not e-mail any personal financial information unless you are sure it is a "secure site" — https is more secure than http, for one.

Always review your credit card and bank statements for any unauthorized charges. Avoid writing your full Social Security number or credit card number on checks — usually the last four digits will do. If you hand a merchant or restaurant your credit card, try to keep it in view when you are dealing with a new institution. Avoid use of ATM cards at non-banks — banks have systems that are more secure.

Do not leave incoming mail in mailboxes outside your home for any length of time — have the Post Office hold your mail when you travel. Put outgoing mail with checks or personal data only in the USPS mailboxes.

Try to learn whether your identity has been stolen. You can do that by checking your credit report periodically. Go to www.annualcreditreport.com to request reports at no cost and see if anyone has opened new accounts in your name without your authorization. Look into fraud alert services offered by the credit reporting companies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) if you have reason to believe you are at risk.

Brown indicated detailed information on these measures can be had by going to the County website, www.westchestergov.com/consumer.