1. Protecting Your Identity: What to Know, What to Do
2016 Risky Business Week
Protecting Your Identity:
What to Know, What to Do
Thank you for participating in Risky Business Week. I want to share some information about reducing the risk of identity theft. Identity theft has affected millions of people and there are some things you can do to protect yourself.
Legal Division
CSAA Insurance Group, a AAA Insurer

2. How can you reduce your risk?
Overview
What is identity theft?
How can you reduce your risk?
What can you do if your identity is stolen?
In this presentation, you will learn:
What is identity theft?
How can you reduce your risk?
What can you do if your identity is stolen?

3. 17.6 million identity theft victims in 2014 (7% of US population)*
What is identity theft?
17.6 million identity theft victims in 2014 (7% of US population)*
Nearly 500,000 complaints to the FTC in 2015
*U.S. Dept. of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Victims of Identity Theft, 2014 (September 2015)
Identity theft happens when someone takes your personal information and uses it without your permission.
According to the Department of Justice, 17.6 million people were identity theft victims in That represents 7% of the U.S. population. The Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, received nearly half a million complaints about identity theft in 2015.

4. What is identity theft? Examples of Misuse Impact on Victims
Open Credit Cards
Open Utility Accounts
Apply for a Tax Refund
Get a Loan
Apply for Employment
Get Medical Care
Denial of credit/loans
Denial of public benefits
Denial of medical care
Harassment by debt collectors
Lawsuits
Stress/anxiety
Embarrassment
Eime/expenses spent on recovery steps
Identity theft can cause a lot of damage – and cost you time, money, and patience to repair.
Identity thieves can use your information to get credit, steal your tax refund, or even get medical care. And the crime can take an emotional toll on victims.

5. How can you reduce your risk?
Make it a habit to monitor your accounts
Secure your Social Security number
Protect your personal information
Be alert to online impersonators
Protect your devices
In the next slides, I’ll talk about ways you can reduce your risk of identity theft.

6. Make it a habit to monitor your accounts
Read your bank, credit, and account statements and your explanation of medical benefits
Order a free credit report
You are entitled to a free credit report every year
To order, visit annualcreditreport.com or call
First, make it part of your routine to monitor your accounts. It should become a habit like buckling your seatbelt or locking your doors at night.
Read your bank, credit, and account statements, and the explanations of medical benefits you receive. When you read these, look for activity and charges you didn’t make. Be alert for bills that don’t arrive when you expect them to arrive, and follow up if you get account statements you don’t expect.
Read your credit reports. You have a right to get a free credit report every 12 months from each of the three nationwide credit reporting companies. Stagger your requests so that you order one report every four months. The information for ordering your free credit report is shown on the slide.

7. Secure your Social Security number
If someone asks for it, ask:
Why do you need it?
How will it be used?
How will you protect it?
Second, be alert when you get a request for your Social Security number. If someone asks you for it, ask them: Why do you need it? How will it be used? How will you protect it?

8. Protect your personal information
Keep your important papers secure
Be careful with your mail
Shred sensitive documents
Don’t overshare on social networking sites
Third, protect your personal information. Keep your important papers secure. Lock up your financial documents and records in a secure place at home, and lock up your wallet or purse at work. Limit what you carry. Take only the identification, credit, and debit cards that you need. Be careful with your mail. Take outgoing mail to the post office or post office collection boxes. Remember to remove mail that arrives in your mailbox. If you’re going to be away for several days, arrange for the Post Office to put a vacation hold on your mail. Shred sensitive documents like receipts, credit offers or applications, insurance forms, physician statements, and check or bank statements. Don’t overshare your personal information. If you post too much information about yourself on social networking sites, an identity thief can find out information about your life, use it to answer challenge questions on your accounts, and get access to your money and personal information. Never post your full name, Social Security number, address, phone number, or account numbers in publicly accessible places. Consider limiting access to your networking page to a small group of people.

9. Be alert to online impersonators
Don’t click on links in s
Fourth, be alert to online impersonators. Be sure you know who is getting your personal or financial information online.
If you receive an from a company claiming to have an account with you and the asks for personal information, do not click on any links in the and do not provide your personal information.
Instead, type the company name into your web browser, go to their site, and contact them through their customer service number or . Or, call the customer service number listed on your account statement. Ask whether the company really did send you a request.

10. Use anti-virus software, anti-spyware software, and a firewall
Protect your devices
Use anti-virus software, anti-spyware software, and a firewall
Keep your operating system, browser, and security up to date
Create strong passwords
Lock up your devices
Read privacy policies
Finally, protect your devices. Use anti-virus software, anti-spyware software, and a firewall on your computer. Protect against intrusions and infections that can compromise your computer files or passwords by installing security patches for your operating system and other software. Create strong passwords that mix letters, numbers, and special characters. Don’t use the same password for more than one account. Set your computer’s operating system, web browser, and security system to update automatically. Keep your devices safe. Keep personal information on your laptop or phone only when necessary. Don’t use an automatic login feature that saves your user name and password, and always lock your screen or log off when you’re finished. Use a password or PIN for your phone. If your laptop or phone is stolen, this makes it harder for the thief to get to your personal information.
Read website privacy policies, which will tell you how the site maintains accuracy, access, security, and control of the personal information it collects, how it uses the information, and whether it provides the information to third parties. If you don’t see a privacy policy, consider doing business elsewhere.

11. What can you do if your identity is stolen?
If your identity is stolen, the FTC’s website IdentityTheft.gov makes it easier to report and recover from identity theft.
When you use IdentityTheft.gov to report a problem to the FTC, the site will ask you specific questions about your situation, and then use the information you provide to build your personal recovery plan.

12. What can you do if your identity is stolen?
FREE help from IdentityTheft.gov
Get a personal recovery plan that walks you through each step
Create an identity theft affidavit that you can review and update at any time
Get customized pre-filled letters to send to credit bureaus, businesses, and debt collectors
Return anytime to update your plan and track your progress
Get advice about what to do if you’re affected by specific data breaches
The free features on IdentityTheft.gov provide personalized assistance for victims.

13. What can you do if your identity is stolen?
When you choose “Get Started” on the IdentityTheft.gov homepage, you’ll answer questions about your situation. While the site is designed primarily to report identity theft, you can also get specific advice about related situations, like having information exposed in a data breach, or losing your wallet. Each situation is unique, and there is a tailored recovery plan for more than 30 different types of identity theft.

14. What can you do if your identity is stolen?
After you provide the specific details about your situation, the system will create an Identity Theft Affidavit for you. This is your official statement about what happened to you.
The system was designed with security in mind, so it only collects the information it needs. You’ll enter your Social Security and driver’s license numbers by hand after you print out your affidavit.

15. What can you do if your identity is stolen?
Next, you’ll get your personal recovery plan, which provides step-by-step checklists to guide you through the process. As your situation changes, your recovery plan will adapt. If you find a new fraudulent account, you can update your information, and your recovery plan will update too. The entire system is also available in Spanish.

16. Where can you find more information?
For more information about identity theft and how you can protect yourself, visit ftc.gov/idtheft or IdentityTheft.gov
Thank you for your time and attention and for participating in Risky Business Week. I hope you’ve picked up some tips on how to reduce your risk of identity theft and learned what you can do if your identity is stolen.
For more information about identity theft and how you can protect yourself, you can visit the FTC websites shown on this slide. Also, check out the videos posted on the Risky Business Week Information Security & Privacy website.
Thank you again.