December is Identity Theft Prevention and Awareness Month - Identity theft is a serious crime. This is the month to educate yourself on how to prevent identity theft. Join us for an important webinar with staff members from the SC Department of Consumer Affairs on how to prevent ID theft and know what to do if it happens to you. Open to library staff, state government employees, general public.

1. ID Theft:
Avoiding &
Detecting
Welcome to today’s FREE
Webinar
Sponsored by the
SC State Library and
SC Department of Consumer
Affairs

2. Getting started…
 Host/Moderator - Dr. Curtis R.
Rogers, Communications
Director, SC State Library
 December ID Theft Prevention Month
 www.statelibrary.sc.gov
 Recording
 Q&A at end of session
 contact info:
 crogers@statelibrary.sc.gov
 803-734-8928

3. Today’s Presenters
Juliana Harris is the Communications
Coordinator for the South Carolina
Department of Consumer Affairs. She
arrived at SCDCA in January 2012 and
has since organized, presented, and
facilitated consumer education
programs. Ms. Harris is the main point
of media contact at SCDCA and is the
creator and distributor of SCDCA press
releases. She also designs and creates
SCDCA’s consumer
publications, including
newsletters, educational and
promotional materials. Juliana is a
recent graduate of the University of
South Carolina having earned her
Bachelor's of Arts in 2010.

4. Donna Backwinkel joined the Department
of Consumer Affairs in November 2004. Her
work as Consumer Services Director has
focused on outreach efforts, staff training
and consumer education. She has
established a Business Liaison position within
the Services Division, providing businesses a
contact for consumer law questions. She
also started the After Hours project to allow
consumers who cannot attend luncheon
and daytime programs a chance to learn
about consumer law in the evening. Prior to
Consumer Affairs, she was an attorney at
the Columbia law firm of Berry
Quackenbush and Stuart. While there, Ms.
Backwinkel served as a trainer for other
attorneys in the area of consumer law, and
she concentrated her practice in this area.

5. ID THEFT
Avoiding and Detecting
Juliana Harris
Communications Coordinator
SC Department of Consumer Affairs

6. THE DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS
Department Overview: 5 Divisions
 Consumer Services and Education
 Advocacy
 Administration
 Legal
 Public Information
Next: ID Theft

7. WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?
FTC’s #1 complaint in 2011 was ID Theft.
Fastest growing white collar crime in the USA.
SC ranks #20 in nation for volume of ID Theft Complaints.
$50 Billion in losses annually.
It can happen to anyone!
Next: What is
it?

8. WHAT IS ID THEFT?
Use of personal identifying information to commit fraud or crime.
FTC estimates that 9 million people are victims of ID Theft every
year.
Next: How?

9. HOW DOES ID THEFT HAPPEN?
Friends & Family
Pretexting
Phishing
Skimming
Pre-Approval Offers
Unscrupulous employees @ businesses with which you have a
relationship
Dumpster Diving
Hacking/Security Breach
Next: Red
Flags

10. RED FLAGS
Mistakes on your financial statements.
Bills don’t arrive on time.
Bills or collection notices for things you never purchased.
Unexpectedly denied a loan.
You don’t get your tax refund and end up owing the IRS.
Next: Top 3

11. TOP 3 IN SC
24% Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
 Unlawful use or counterfeit of gov’t issued documents
15% Phone or Utilities Fraud
 Obtaining these services with false info
11% Credit Card Fraud
 Opening a line of credit with false info
Next: Credit
Report

12. AVOIDING ID THEFT
Dispose of sensitive materials appropriately.
Don’t disclose personal info to someone you
don’t know.
 On the phone
 Online
 Through the mail
Next: Pre-
Screened

13. AVOIDING: OPT OUT OF PRESCREENED CREDIT OFFERS
 If you receive pre-screened credit card offers in the mail (based on
your credit data), tear them up after you decide you don’t want to
accept the offer.
 To opt out of receiving pre-screened credit card offers, call: 1-888-5-
OPTOUT (1-888-567- 8688).
 In addition, you can notify the three major credit bureaus that you do
not want personal information about you shared for promotional
purposes.
Next:
Recordkeepin
g

14. AVOIDING: RELEASING YOUR SSN
 Businesses may ask you for your SSN to do a credit check.
Sometimes they want your SSN for general record keeping.
You don’t have to give a business your SSN just because they
ask for it. If someone asks for your SSN, ask the following
questions:
 Why do you need my SSN?
 How will my SSN be used?
 What law requires me to give you my SSN?
 What will happen if I don’t give you my SSN?
Next: Online
Banking

15. AVOIDING: ONLINE BANKING SAFETY
 Monitor your account regularly.
 Don’t login in the library or at your local internet café.
 Don’t try to access your account through e-mailed or popup
links, even if they do look like they came from your bank.
 Make sure the web address begins with “https”, which means
the server is secure.
 Change your password regularly. And don’t share it!
 Install firewalls, spyware blockers, and antivirus software.
Next: Info
Compromised

16. INFORMATION COMPROMISE
If you know or suspect that some of your personal identifying
information has been compromised.
 Place an initial Fraud Alert on your credit report.
 Monitor your financial statements.
 Request a free credit report 1-2 months after placing the fraud alert.
Next:
Recovering

17. RECOVERING
• Document all
correspondence.
• It can take many
hours of phone
calls and letters
to repair the
damage.
Next: Security
Freeze

18. SECURITY FREEZE
 Stops businesses from accessing your credit report without
your permission
 Doesn’t affect existing accounts
 Free to place, lift, or thaw
 Contact each of the THREE CRAs
 Thaw if you want to apply for new credit or services
 Remember to monitor your credit report and financial
statements!
Next: Credit
Reports

19. CREDIT REPORTS
How to read them and correct errors.
Donna Backwinkel, Esq.
Director of Consumer Services and Education
SC Department of Consumer Affairs

20. WE WILL LEARN:
How to read your credit report
How to correct errors

21. CREDIT REPORT – GENERAL INFORMATION
• Contains information about your credit history, address, place of
employment
• A snapshot taken at a given point in time – may vary from day-
to-day
• Credit score is a numerical value of the information contained in
the report
• Lenders use the score as a predictor of future payment and to
determine if credit will be given, interest rates
• Different formulas for each CRA

22. HOW TO READ THE REPORT
Usually divided into four sections:
• identifying information,
• credit history,
• public records, and
• inquiries

23. IDENTIFYING INFORMATION
• Includes current and previous
addresses, date of birth, telephone
numbers, driver’s license number, employer
and spouse names
• Review carefully – sometimes incorrect
information may indicate attempted or actual
identity theft

24. CREDIT HISTORY
Credit accounts are listed - may be referred to as
trade lines
Name of creditor and account number
 When you opened the account
 Kind of credit
 Individual or joint
 Total amount of loan/high credit
 How much presently owed
 Fixed monthly payment/minimum monthly payment
 Status
 How well you have paid

25. PUBLIC RECORDS
• Best if this section is blank!
• Financial-related data: bankruptcies, judgments, tax
liens
• Does not include criminal activities or arrests

26. INQUIRIES
Two sections under this heading
“Hard” inquiries – consumer initiates this by
filling out credit application
“Soft” inquiries – companies want to send
promotional information to pre-qualified
groups – or – current creditors who are
monitoring your account

27. REVIEWING YOUR CREDIT REPORT
• Date of last activity: Last payment made or
last charge on the account. If more than 7
years (plus additional time), delete.
• Accuracy of information: amount
owed, when last payment
made, status, payment history
• Is it your debt?
• Any other issues or disputes?

28. CREDIT REPORT REALITY
• No one can remove information that is accurate and
timely
• You can request an investigation of information that
is inaccurate
• You are entitled to a free credit report if you have
been denied credit, insurance or employment based
on an item on your credit report
• Disputes are free

29. CREDIT REPORT TIDBITS
• Lenders generally look at the last two years – they
are looking for trends
• Some estimates show 80% of credit reports have
misinformation
• You are entitled to a free report if negative action has
been taken due to something on report
• The three major credit reporting agencies may have
different information – so your score may be different
at each agency

30. HOW TO DISPUTE
• Send letter to credit reporting agencies as well as
company that provided the information
• Clearly identify yourself – use report ID number, if
available
• Be specific as to inaccuracy
• Explain why it is in error
• State how it needs to be corrected
• Keep copy of letter

31. IF YOUR DISPUTE IS NOT RESOLVED
• You have the right to place information in
your report, 100 words or less, explaining
why you dispute the item
• You can go to court – must be done within
2 years of item appearing on report

32. MONITORING YOUR CREDIT REPORT
Call 877.322.8228 to request your free report; or
Go to annualcreditreport.com
Three free each year (one from each CRA).
Next: Avoid

33. RESOURCES
SCDCA
 consumer.sc.gov
 800.922.1594
FTC
 ftc.gov
 877.382.4357
Credit Reporting Agencies (Fraud Lines)
 Equifax: 800.525.6285
 Experian: 888.397.3742
 TransUnion: 800.680.7289