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Identity Theft/Fraud Alert Tip

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This Week's Identity Theft / Fraud Tip:

                          Better Business Bureau's Top Five Ways to Prevent ID Theft Online

The good news is identity theft is on the decline. The bad news is ID theft still affected 8.1 million Americans last year - down 3.6 percent from 8.4 million in the previous year. Despite the decline in reported ID theft, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) warns that thieves and hackers still lurk online and is offering consumers advice to protect their personal and financial information. "ID theft prevention should always be on an individual's mind when they are online," said a BBB spokesperson. "When it comes to protecting your identity, an ounce of prevention is worth far more than the amount of money, energy, and agony that goes into getting your life back to normal after your financial and personal information has been stolen." The BBB recommends consumers take the following five steps to prevent ID theft whenever they are online: Don't fall for phishing email. Phishing, the practice of using email or phone calls to pose as a trustworthy organization in order to coerce sensitive information from victims, is on the rise. In order to prevent ID theft through phishing emails, computer users should completely delete unsolicited emails from financial institutions, investment firms and government agencies with which they do not already have an established relationship. (ECU will never contact members via email.) Create strong passwords and protect them. Developing a habit of regularly changing passwords makes it much more difficult for ID thieves to steal personal information. Some passwords, however, are stronger than others. Attributes of a secure password include a combination of numbers, upper-case letters, and special characters or symbols. Consumers should never use sensitive information for a password such as their Social Security number, mother's maiden name or birthday. Be safe and secure when on the go. Computer users on the go should be wary of entering passwords or sensitive information into a computer that isn't theirs, such as at an Internet Cafe, library, computer lab, or airport kiosk. Hackers can actually record their target's keystrokes to learn passwords and other information. Guard personal computers with anti-virus, anti-spyware, and firewall protection. Opinions vary, but the amount of time it takes for an unprotected personal computer to become infected with a virus or malware can range from 4 to 34 minutes. That's why a computer must have good anti-virus software, as well as anti-spyware and firewall protection. After acquiring security software, users must keep the programs updated. Operating systems also require patches and other additional updates that computer users need to install in order to maintain security. Only transmit information over a secure server. When it comes to giving out personal information online, consumers should do so only on a secure server. On a secure server, the information is encrypted as it is being transmitted; that way, others can't read it if they should intercept it.