Rights when it comes to identity theft:
• You are provided one free credit report each year.
• You have the right to obtain documents relating to fraudulent transactions made or accounts opened using your personal information.
• You have the right to obtain information from a debt collector.
• If you believe that information in your life resulted from identity theft, you have the right to ask that a consumer reporting agency block that information from your file.
• You may prevent businesses from reporting information about you to consumer reporting agencies if you believe that the information is a result of identity theft.
Source: Dan Boylan, Ball State instructor of finance
6 ways to deter identity theft:
• Shred financial documents
• Protect your social security number
• Don’t give out personal information
• Never click on links sent on unsolicited emails
• Avoid using obvious passwords
• Keep personal information in a safe spot
Source: Social Security Administration
More than just friends and followers may see information posted online, and 21 percent of reported identity theft is happening to consumers between the ages of 20 and 29, according to the Consumer Sentinel Network.
“The student body should care about this subject because in college, you are preparing yourself for the real world, and if you’re not careful about protecting your identity, then the repercussions of what that person does could ruin your chance of future employment or opportunities that could’ve been available to you before,” said Nick Combs, vice president of Ball State’s Finance Society.
According to the Consumer Sentinel Network, 57,491 identity theft reports were from consumers between the ages of 20 and 29.
Rosnellys Pérez, a senior criminal justice major, has once fallen victim to identity theft.
After making an online purchase from a clothing website, Pérez got a notification of a $35 purchase made from her account in Minnesota.
“So my bank called me and asked me if I did that purchase,” she said. “I said ‘no,’ and it took three days for them to return the money.”
Pérez had no easy access to money for the next three days because her account numbers and card numbers had to be changed.
“I was broke for three days,” she said. “And I had to order my card to be replaced. I was cardless for a week and that was stressful. Now, I just shop in websites that are popular and recognized.”
Dan Boylan, a Ball State finance instructor, said students also need to be aware of what they are putting on their social media sites.
“[Identity theft is] rising because the information that you can get on other people online is so easy and so accessible,” he said.
The Better Business Bureau of the United States and Canada names identity theft as one of the most common crimes.
“The reason that I’m not surprised at all is if someone robs a bank, we all know about it,” Boylan said. “But if someone steals your identity, nobody knows about it, so it’s kind of like a hidden crime.”
According to Social Security Administration and Boylan, there are six ways to deter yourself from this problem: shred financial documents, protect your social security number, don’t give out personal information, never click on links sent on unsolicited emails, don’t use obvious passwords and keep personal information in a safe spot.
“Once you know about it, you need to take action immediately because once you are aware that there is identity theft, now the burden of proof is on you,” Boylan said.
The Social Security Administration recommends placing a “fraud alert” on your credit reports, contacting the fraud departments for each company, filing a police report and reporting the theft to the Federal Trade Commission.
With identity theft impacting college students, Albert DiBenedetto, a junior physics major, said he is cautious when it comes to protecting himself.
“It’s important to protect your identity so you don’t get any of your really important records stolen or invaded,” he said. “I change my passwords whenever it prompts me to. I started doing this about two years ago. It didn’t really start until I got here to Ball State. When I got my bank account, that’s when I was just being careful with my money and making sure that if anything happens, I could at least trace it back.”
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