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TMCNet: ID theft: Victims are often students: College students need to protect their personal information from identity thieves. [The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va.]

[August 27, 2009]

ID theft: Victims are often students: College students need to protect their personal information from identity thieves. [The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va.]

(Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, VA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 27--Identity theft is likely one of the furthest things from students' minds as they head off to college.

After all, how much money is rattling around in their accounts after they've made payments on their textbooks, student loans and an occasional treat? But personal identity information is, as the commercial says, priceless.

A professional ID theft ring -- or even an unscrupulous roommate -- can use it in ways that can affect a victim's credit rating, job opportunities and future borrowing potential.

"Most of the communication students do now is releasing so much information about themselves unknowingly," said Mark Borchers, Germanna Community College's safety and security manager. "They're just giving information about themselves away. Once they release it, it's gone." Lose a Blackberry that isn't password protected, for example, and a thief suddenly has access to all the information it contains, he said. The same is true of computers and laptops, especially if the hard drive isn't erased before it's ditched in favor of a newer model.

And the name, home address and phone number listed on a Facebook account? A thief can put the information on a change of address form at the post office, and have bank statements, credit card applications and all sorts of other personal information forwarded to another address. That, in turn, can be used to open accounts in victims' names without their knowledge.

Think it doesn't happen? Think again.

Virginia ranked 22nd for identity theft complaints last year according to information from the Federal Trade Commission, and the percentage of complaints from 20- to 29-year-olds in the commonwealth -- 23 percent -- was the highest among any age group both statewide and nationally.

"Students need to be aware of who they're giving information to," Borchers said. "They should take the commonsense approach that their parents are always telling them: 'If you don't know who somebody is, don't give them any information.'" Take the computers in Germanna's libraries and academic computer centers, said W. Ollie Burton, Germanna's information security officer and network security manager.

"We always recommend not to check the box that says 'save password,'" he said. "I don't even do that on my personal computer at home, and you definitely don't want to do that on a computer someone else can sit down and use. Also, close down the browser and log out. Don't leave the browser open to your account." He also recommends that students keep the firewall and virus-protection software on their own computers updated and turn them on, and refuse to open e-mails from people they don't know.

An innocent-looking attachment could actually download a program onto a computer that tracks keystrokes and sends the information to a criminal who'll check it for log-in information and bank account passwords, Burton said.

Then there's the problem of ID thieves "phishing" for information by sending an official-looking e-mail from a bank or other institution that actually directs people to a fake Web site in hopes of gaining such things as account numbers and passwords.

"Do not click on links in e-mails that request information even if the sender appears to be legitimate," advised Kahlil Yazdi, chief information officer and vice president for information technology and institutional research at the University of Mary Washington. "Instead, open a fresh browser window and manually type in the URL for the financial institution." To see more of The Free Lance-Star or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://fredericksburg.com/flshome.

Copyright (c) 2009, The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

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