National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators The following is a presentation prepared for NASFAA’s 2007 Conference in Washington, DC July 8-11, 2007

National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators Identity Theft Identity Theft and You Presented by Paula Craw and Jeff Southard

Slide 3 “An informed borrower is simply less vulnerable to fraud and abuse.” -Alan Greenspan

Slide 4 Agenda What is Identity Theft? You may be a target Why you should protect yourself Current rules protecting consumers How is identity theft committed? Deter Detect Defend

Slide 5 What is Identity Theft? Wrongful use of your personal information to commit fraud or other crimes Committed by 2 types of thieves: skilled professionals acquaintances with access to your personal financial information

Slide 6 You may be a target Nobody is truly safe from identity theft FTC estimates 10 million victimized yearly Lack of tough consequences for poor security Protection for consumers is minimal Consequences for committing theft outweighed by benefits for criminals

Slide 7 Rules to protect you Federal Level Gramm-Leach Bliley Act FERPA FACTA State by state legislation varies CA leader in state privacy protection Some states offer little protection

Slide 8 How is identity theft committed? Dumpster diving or shoulder surfing Skimming “Phishing” Changing your address Theft or forwarding of your mail

Slide 9 How is identity theft committed? Old fashioned stealing Telephone scams Pre-approved credit card offers by mail Business record theft – stealing files from offices where you’re a customer, employee, patient or student

Slide 10 How is identity theft committed? Establish phone service Open a bank account and write bad checks Counterfeit checks or debit cards to drain your account

Slide 11 Why protect yourself? Prospective employer pulls credit – you don’t get the job because credit report shows poor handling of finances Denial of mortgage application Skyrocketing car insurance rates

Slide 12 Did you know? 20% of identity thieves know their victims personally Losses to identity theft victims exceed $5 billion annually

Slide 13 Deter: safeguard your information Protect your financial “holy trinity” Name and address Date of Birth Social Security Number Shred financial documents and paperwork with personal information

Slide 14 Deter: safeguard your information Never lend credit cards or account information to anyone Delete unsolicited s Protect your home computer-use firewalls, anti-spyware and anti-virus software

Slide 15 Deter: safeguard your information Be smart when setting up passwords IuSP4moP! Keep your personal info in a secure place Don’t let mail pile up unattended

Slide 16 Did you know? Losses to businesses and financial institutions exceed $50 billion annually 27.5 million victimized in the last five years

Slide 17 Detect: monitor your accounts Request a free copy of your credit report on a regular basis: or call Review financial accounts and billing statements regularly

Slide 18 Detect: monitor your accounts Be alert to: bills that don’t arrive as expected unexpected credit cards or acct statements denials of credit for no apparent reason calls or letters about purchases you didn’t make

Slide 19 Defend: take action immediately Place a fraud alert on your credit reports Contact credit bureaus to do so – you’ll get free copies of your reports Equifax – Experian – TransUnion –

Slide 20 Defend: take action immediately File a police report and make copies Review credit reports carefully Close accounts tampered with or established fraudulently – contact each company, follow up in writing

Slide 21 OPT-OUT today Credit bureau opt-out Allows you to opt out of pre-approved credit offers for a period of 5 years or indefinitely

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