{"id":907071,"date":"2020-07-25T08:16:03","date_gmt":"2020-07-25T13:16:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ktbb.com\/post\/?p=889704"},"modified":"2020-08-05T15:53:37","modified_gmt":"2020-08-05T20:53:37","slug":"protecting-your-identity-during-unprecedented-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/?p=907071","title":{"rendered":"Protecting Your Identity During Unprecedented Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"TYLER — So far this year, the Federal Trade Commission\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s (FTC) Consumer Sentinel Network has reported approximately 55,499 identity theft cases in Texas with credit card fraud being the top reported fraudulence with 18,204 cases. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153As some businesses prohibit the use of cash amid COVID-19 concerns, credit\/debit cards or online payments have increasingly become only acceptable forms of payment in many cases,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Mechele Agbayani Mills, President and CEO of BBB serving Central East Texas said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153As you can imagine identity thieves are out on the prowl.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

The BBB advises consumers to safeguard their personal identifiable information when making purchasing decisions and navigating the web during these uncertain times.<\/p>\n

How Identity Theft Scams Work:<\/strong><\/p>\n

With enough information, a scammer can take over your identity and commit a wide range of crimes. Scammers can make false applications for loans and credit cards, withdraw money from your bank account, or obtain services. They can also sell your information to others. Identity theft may take a long time to detect. Scammers typically ensure that bills and statements for new accounts are not sent to your address. You may not notice what is happening until the scammer has already inflicted substantial damage on your assets, credit, and reputation. If you believe you are a victim of identity theft, it is very important to act quickly. In the U.S., visit\u00c2\u00a0www.identitytheft.gov\u00c2\u00a0for information on how to stop and recover from identity theft.<\/p>\n

Tips to Spot This Scam:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Look for unexplained withdrawals, charges, and accounts.\u00c2\u00a0Review your bank account and credit card statements regularly. Look for unfamiliar charges, accounts, or withdrawals. Know when your bills are due; one tip-off for identity theft is when you stop receiving certain bills. This can happen because scammers have changed the address associated with your bank account or credit card. If bills don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t arrive on time, follow up with your creditors. Debt collectors may call you about debts that aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t yours. You can also set up automatic alerts on your accounts so you are notified every time a transaction is made.<\/p>\n

Check your credit reports regularly for unauthorized inquiries and accounts.\u00c2\u00a0In the U.S., you have the right to check your credit report with each of the three major credit bureaus once per year at AnnualCreditReport.com. This is the only free crediting reporting service authorized by the Federal Trade Commission. Space these checks out across the year, and you will know fairly quickly if something is wrong.<\/p>\n

Protect Yourself Against This Scam:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Be careful with your personal information.\u00c2\u00a0Treat your personal information like the valuable commodity it is. Make sure you shred any documents that have your bank account information, Social Security\/Social Insurance number, or other personal information. These include credit card applications, insurance forms, financial statements, health forms and billing statements from utilities and phone service. Cut up expired credit and debit cards, making sure to cut through the numbers, before you dispose of them.<\/p>\n

Secure personal documents at home.\u00c2\u00a0If you have roommates, employ outside help or have contractors in your home, make sure personal documents are in a safe place \u00e2\u20ac\u201c preferably under lock and key \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and not lying out in plain sight. Minimize personal information on checks. You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need to include your Social Security number, drivers license or phone number.<\/p>\n

Be alert to phishing attempts.\u00c2\u00a0Scammers are sophisticated and their phishing attempts may come via email, text, social media message, even phone calls. Be suspicious of any unsolicited communication asking you for personal information. Whether it’s a supposed\u00c2\u00a0tech support call, an offer for a free cruise, or a charity plea, they may really be after your personal information. Click here for BBB’s tips on\u00c2\u00a0Phishing\u00c2\u00a0and on\u00c2\u00a0Tech\u00c2\u00a0Support Scams\u00c2\u00a0.<\/p>\n

Protect Yourself Against Hackers:<\/strong>
\nUse strong passwords. Avoid using your birth date, child\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s name or birth date, mother\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s maiden name, the last four digits of your Social Security number, or really obvious ones like \u00e2\u20ac\u0153123456\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153password.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nChange your passwords frequently
\nUse different passwords for each online account or website
\nBe careful about the types of information you share online, especially if it is information that could be used to get past security questions on your accounts (things like your first car, first pet\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s name, city where you were born)<\/p>\n

Another fundamental way to avoid falling victim to identity theft is to shred all documents which contain personally identifiable information. BBB invites consumers to bring documents to be shredded to our Secure Your ID Day shredding events. Find an event near you, please go to bbb.org.<\/p>\n

If a company you do business with has experienced a data breach, BBB has tips on\u00c2\u00a0what to do if your personal data is compromised\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0what to do if your credit or debit card is compromised.<\/p>\n

For more information on how to be a savvy consumer, go to bbb.org. To report fraudulent activity or unscrupulous business practices, go to BBB Scam Tracker.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TYLER — So far this year, the Federal Trade Commission\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s (FTC) Consumer Sentinel Network has reported approximately 55,499 identity theft cases in Texas with credit card fraud being the top reported fraudulence with 18,204 cases. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153As some businesses prohibit the use of cash amid COVID-19 concerns, credit\/debit cards or online payments have increasingly become only … Continue reading Protecting Your Identity During Unprecedented Times<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":865180,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-907071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news-archive-archives"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-03 10:30:57","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=907071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907071\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=907071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=907071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=907071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}