News for Hoosiers...

On Wednesday March 5, the Richard G. Lugar Northeast Indiana Community Service Center hosted an Identity Theft Workshop in Fort Wayne. The educational event featured representatives and information from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Fort Wayne Police Department (FWPD) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC).  The workshop coincided with National Consumer Protection week, March 2-8, 2008.  

U.S. Postal Inspector Andrew Gottfried, Monica Bowles Kozlowski of Senator Lugar’s office and Detective Jerry Mericle of the FWPD Financial Crimes Department presented tips on how to prevent identity theft on March 5 at Mitchell Books in Fort Wayne.

“The right to privacy is a deep-rooted guarantee revered by the Founders and protected in the U.S. Constitution.  Although technology has brought many benefits and advances, it also has complicated the protection of our privacy interests,” said Senator Lugar. “It is important to share information on how to prevent identity fraud and financial scams, how to fight them and how to restore personal credit information with Hoosiers.”

Identity theft is a serious crime that occurs when personal information is stolen and used without permission to commit fraud or other crimes.  Each year, millions of consumers are victims, and the workshop informed attendees on how to decrease the chance of identity theft and offer solutions for victims of ID theft.

Detective Jerry Mericle of the FWPD Financial Crimes Department began the workshop with information on the sources of identity theft. According to his presentation, 9.9 million Americans were affected by identity theft at the cost of $5 billion in 2007 alone. In addition, there were 4,026 incidents of identity theft in Indiana and more than 10,000 fraud complaints filed. Detective Mericle identified the following as the leading sources of identity theft:

• dumpster diving to look for bills or papers with personal information;
• skimming, which uses information storage devices to steal credit and debit card numbers while the card is being processed;
• phishing where a scammer pretends to be a financial institution or company and sends spam or pop-up messages to lure consumers to reveal personal information;
• address changing to divert billing statements to another location; and
• "old-fashioned" stealing, which includes the theft of personal items like purses, mail and personnel records.

U.S. Postal Inspector Andrew Gottfried also warned that consumers are three times more likely to be victims of identity theft via a financial transaction like a credit card receipt or transactions on the phone or online. Gottfried also said that consumers are three and a half times more likely to have their information stolen by a known individual or a lost purse, checkbook or credit card. 

Both presentations emphasized that prevention is the best solution to avoid identity theft and fraud. To conclude the workshop, Monica Bowles Kozlowski, constituent services specialist for Senator Lugar, shared information from the FTC on how to prevent identity theft. Following the presentations, there was time for questions from attendees.

The following lists provide tips from all the presenters regarding identity theft and fraud.

Tips on how to avoid becoming a victim of ID theft:

• Review credit reports
• Secure personal information at home
• Do not carry social security card with you
• Shred all junk mail and credit card offers in trash
• Pay attention to billing cycles
• Only carry credit cards and identification that are needed
• Notify your credit card company if you plan on traveling out of state
• Use collection boxes to mail bills rather than home mailboxes
• Never provide identifiers over the phone unless you made the call
• Be careful online – keep a log of online activity
• Cancel unused credit cards and keep a list of those you do use

Some questions to ask yourself if you think you have been victimized:

• Do your bills arrive on time?
• Are you receiving statements/bills you did not apply for?
• Credit denied for no apparent reason?
• Contacted by debt collectors?

Tips if you discover you have been victimized:

• Contact local police dept.  If U.S. Mail involved, contact the U.S. Postal Inspection Service
• Call fraud units of 3 major credit bureaus: Experian, Trans Union, and Equifax
• Order credit reports
• Contact banks and/or creditors
• Keep a log: who you talk to, etc.
• File Complaint online with FTC (1-877-IDTHEFT)

Upcoming Event on Small Businesses

On April 29 and 30, the Lugar Northeast Indiana Community Service Center will host a small business seminar that features representatives and information from the Small Business Administration (SBA), Small Business Development Center (SBDC), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), SCORE, and Women’s Enterprise. 

Sessions include: Considerations for Starting a Small Business, Business Plan Basics, Small Business Financing, Small Business Financing for Military Service Members, and Avoiding Federal Tax Pitfalls for Small Business. 

Registration for this event is not required but seating is limited.  For more information or to reserve a seat, please contact the Lugar Community Service Center at (260) 422-1505.