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Read and shred
(by Walt Brown - April 16, 2008)
Prefatory note: The title is not a suggestion with respect to either these words or this issue of Community Life; it's much more serious.
It's about "identity theft," and it has become an ugly epidemic (not that there are very many "beautiful" epidemics). It may seem cute and perky when the burly male in the commercial speaks in a high-pitched teenage female voice to say, "Hi, I just bought appliances, a nifty wide-screen TV, and took a cruise, and I used your credit card."
But there is nothing truly cute about it. Most of us have fallback options in such cases, but even a best-case option involves literally re-inventing yourself, even though you already exist. It involves a lot of paperwork, and for one simple reason.
Someone borrowed you.
A common ploy is called "phishing." An established vendor – eBay, PayPal, or in some cases, store credit cards or major credit cards will "phish" you with a complaint or a request for "account verification." If you click on that link, someone else becomes YOU and they have free reign over the health of your credit portfolio.
What is even more troubling is that the e-mails look totally valid. "Yup, that's the PayPal or eBay logo, all right. Musta been a slip-up somewhere."
Don't believe it. Call the company and report it, then forward the e-mail to spoof@ebay.com. Nothing really happens, as they can't find out who stole their logo to pick your pocket, but you might feel better by forwarding the attempt at larceny.
All of this was brought home to me in a most unusual way on March 26 and April 9, the two recent Wednesdays when "paper" is recycled on the east side of Hillsdale. Most folks put out a neatly tied up stack of newspaper, or an accumulation of cardboard.
No problem. My mistake was cleaning out desks and closets (there's a name for when you tidy up between winter and summer, but it usually manages to elude me), and putting out loose papers. On March 26, a white, otherwise unremarkable small sedan cruised slowly up the street, taking a visual inspection of the stacks of newspaper and cardboard. Then they hit paydirt. The driver saw my tupperware full of loose papers, and crossed the street, parked in the wrong direction, and started going through my papers to be recycled. Because it was March 26, the current bills were not in there; they'd been put out on March 12. What was out there was a sizable number of large-print Sudoko pages.
Luckily.
When the same fellow arrived on April 9, I ran him off. Make no mistake, however, he was looking for some document to use to create an identity theft situation. If he'd been successful… well, in two weeks you'd be reading "FelonAroun'Town," and not my words.
It's very real, folks. If you don't save papers with your name and any account numbers on them, take the advise at the top of the column.
Read and shred. The line or credit you save may be your own.
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