There are
a number of methods that offenders employ to use your
personal information - such as your name, address, phone
number, Social Security Number, or bank or credit card
account numbers - without your knowledge to personally
profit at your expense.
-Phishing and
Spoofing.
Phishing and spoofing enable offenders to obtain personal
information via e-mail and the Internet. With phishing and
spoofing, an e-mail header is forged to make it appear as if
it came from someone other than the actual source. The
fraudulent e-mail message may direct you to a Web site that
looks just like the legitimate source's Web site, but isn't.
In these cases, the e-mail or pop-up messages are used to
deceive you into disclosing sensitive personal information
so that the offender may use your information to make
fraudulent purchases, access your accounts or steal your
identity. Any reputable agency which asks for personal
information via the internet will have their website secured
with an SSL Certificate Authority. How do you know if it is
secured? View the address on the page you are being asked
to place the information. If it reads HTTP is NOT a secure
site. If the address starts with HTTPS it is secure. If
for some reason, you still feel uncomfortable after knowing
the page address begins with HTTPS or you cannot locate the
page address then do not give out your personal information.
To learn more we encourage you to read "You Can Fight
Identity Theft", a valuable resource (.pdf
brochure) on the FDIC Web site,
http://www.fdic.gov.
-Identity Theft.
Identity theft occurs when your personal information is used
by someone else to open new accounts or initiate
transactions in your name. Identity theft occurs through a
number of ways offline - from stealing wallets and purses,
intercepting and rerouting mail or rummaging through
garbage. To learn more, visit
www.consumer.gov/idtheft ,
the U.S. government's central Web site for information about
identity theft, or call the Identity Theft hotline at
1-877-IDTHEFT.
-Skimming.
Skimming, which occurs when your credit or debit card
account information is captured in a data storage device, is
a practice offenders employ to create counterfeit credit or
debit cards from your account information. Your card may be
swiped first for an actual purchase, and then swiped again
into a small hand-held device called a skimmer, or a skimmer
may be attached to an ATM machine or unattended gas pump
where you swipe your card or enter your card information.
If You
Become a Victim
How can you tell if you've
become a victim of fraud?
-Unexplained charges or
withdrawals from your financial accounts
-Failing to receive bills or
other account information
-Receiving calls from collectors or companies about credit
you didn't apply for, or merchandise or services you didn't
buy
-Receiving credit cards
for which you did not apply
-Receiving bills from
unfamiliar sources
-Receiving letters that
ask you to confirm address changes that you did not initiate
-Denial of credit for no
apparent reason
.