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Identity Theft
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What is Identity Theft? Minimize

Identity theft is an activity in which a criminal obtains key personal information from an unknowing person, and uses it for criminal gain. The most common stolen information includes social security numbers, credit card numbers and driver's license numbers.

According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, there are four types of identity theft:

Financial Identity Theft
A criminal typically uses the victim's name and social security number to get loans, credit cards or buy goods.

Criminal Identity Theft
A criminal provides a victim's information when they are stopped by law enforcement, resulting in any tickets, warrants or fines being issued to the victim.

Identity Cloning
A criminal literally takes on the victim's identity, working and living as the victim.

Business or Commercial Identity Theft
A criminal will take out credit cards or accounts with a business' name. Businesses usually become aware of this activity when they are contacted for payment on these accounts.
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How Does an Identity Thief Get Information? Minimize

The most common way identity thieves steal information is through trash - credit card statements and applications are often taken. It is recommended that you shred all pre-approved credit card applications, old bills, credit card statements and any paper that has your personal information on it.

Thieves can also steal information from your computer. The most common form of electronic theft is phishing - these e-mails appear to be legitimate communication from your bank or credit union asking you to verify your personal information. In reality, these messages are carefully crafted by thieves to look legitimate, but they send you to their personal website to collect your information, not your bank's. Please remember that your bank or credit union will NEVER ask you to verify your identity electronically! If you receive such a message and are unsure, please forward it to security@utep.edu and call your bank to verify its authenticity.

Information is also stolen through Trojan programs that are installed on your computer. These programs may come as an attachment in your e-mail or may be installed with software that you download. This stresses several points - 1) never open an e-mail attachment from a person you don't know, 2) if you receive an unexpected attachment from someone you do know, send them an e-mail or call them and inquire what the attachment is (it may be a virus attempting to spread by impersonating the person you know) and 3) your computer needs antivirus software and it needs to be updated. Additionally, please make sure that when you are shopping online, you do so with a reputable company and they use safe transactions.
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