Identity Theft: Phones
What kind of information do identity thieves try to steal over the phone?
There are boiler room operations going on 24 hours a day all over the world where identity thieves are set up with phone banks and computers and they're calling on people trying to extract as much data from them as possible. Basic information like names, addresses, and social security numbers, but of course they want credit card information. They want banking information. Their goal really is for you to give them credit card information over the phone so that they can go right ahead and make charges without your authorization.
What are the most common phone scams used by identity thieves?
It's very common for someone to call you posing as law enforcement saying that you are going to be arrested because you did not show up for jury duty. And then they're going to ask you for your personal identifying information, including your social security number, so that they can do a jury check on you to validate your information, so that they don't have to come and arrest you. So anytime anybody is ever calling you up for any type of personal identifying information, whether it's for a jury scam, or to get pre-approved for a loan, or anything that involves your data, I would always just simply hang up the phone. In this day and age, major corporations are not going to be calling you asking you for personal identifying information, cause they realize that there are so many scams going on out there that revolve around the telephone.
What should I do if I receive a phone call asking me for personal information?
Even if someone calls you asking you for identifying information and you may feel it's a legitimate corporation - let's say it's your major credit card issuer, American Express for example - and they're calling you to say that your credit card's been compromised. We want to make sure that everything's up and up. I would hang up the phone, call the number on the back of your credit card and access an operator to find out if, in fact, that is actually the case. If the operator gives you a phone number to call, I wouldn't call that number because toll-free numbers, and any phone number, they can easily give you that number, it's all accessible. I would call the number on your credit card or at their website.
How can identity thieves steal information from me when I am using a public or pay phone?
Really the best way for them to steal information at a public phone or a pay phone, is to simply eavesdrop on you. There actually is technology out there that allows them, from a distance as far as 5 feet away, where they can actually hone in on the audio signals and they can listen in on what you're doing. In addition to that, they can also install any type of audio sensing device, a remote wireless audio sensing device at that payphone. Generally, whenever you're at a public payphone, it's best to scan the area around the perimeter of your body, look for any hardware that might be attached to the phone or in the area of the booth itself, look for anyone in the area who might be paying any unwanted attention to you.
What should I do if I suspect a caller is an identity thief?
Whenever anybody calls you where you suspect that they may be trying to extract private data or they're an identity thief, the best thing to do first is to do a caller id or star 69 to find out the phone number that they're calling from, and then immediately report that information to law enforcement. Also, call the phone company right away because generally they have information on their databases that has that phone number if it didn't show up on caller id, or it didn't show up on star 69.
What should I do if I realize I gave personal information to a phone scammer?
If you realize that you've given out your personal information over the phone, the first thing you need to do is cancel whatever credit card may be associated with that. If you've given out your social security number, you should run out and get a credit freeze as quickly as possible. Other than that, invest in credit monitoring to make sure that if anyone tries to open up any accounts under your name, you are notified via that monitoring service.
