Students
especially at risk for identity fraud
By Tina Page
On-line Forty-Niner
Megan
Carey experienced the unthinkable. Never
overly cautious, nor completely careless,
Carey put her faith in a system many students
deal with on a regular basis without much
thought.
Carey,
a student at Cal State Long Beach, had her
identity stolen in September of 1999 over
a period of four days.
The
Long Beach Police Department made a report
and told Carey that there was really nothing
they could do. The police officer speculated
that the thief obtained Carey’s social security
number when she applied to CSULB online,
which requires a social security number.
“Someone
took out 14 credit cards on instant credit
at different stores in San Diego,” Carey
said. “It has taken so much time to clear
up. I have had to write letters and call
every single company involved in the fraud.”
Her
credit report has still not been corrected,
which has caused problems with renting apartments,
and the personal violation she experienced
is taking time to fade.
“I’m
still afraid that I’m going to go into a
store and they will say that I owe them
money and they will try to arrest me,” Carey
said.
Identity
theft can take many different forms. Professor
William Mulligan of CSULB’s journalism department
has experienced identity theft twice. The
first time involved a calling card linked
to his home phone.
“Someone
watched me punch in my calling card number
at the airport,” Mulligan said. “When we
received a phone bill for $15,000 we realized
something was wrong. It seems someone had
sold my calling card number and people were
using it for drug trade.”
Mulligan
said that the phone company did not force
him to pay for the calls that ended up totaling
$18,500, but he had to get his card number
changed and prove to the phone company that
he had never made those calls.
Mulligan
became a victim of identity theft for a
second time when someone used his social
security number to buy a boat and neglected
to pay taxes. Mulligan had to prove that
he had been in China and could not have
bought the boat. He could not renew his
license until the ordeal was cleared up.
“I
don’t think it is necessary to have a social
security number used on any service,” Mulligan
said. “The only reason you need a student
identification number is so that teachers
can track students and that can be done
with any number assigned.”
Identity
theft poses a threat to all students, especially
since a social security number is used as
the student identification number at CSULB.
The
Impulse Research for Chubb Group Insurance
Companies conducted a national survey of
college students and found that college
students are at a very high risk for identity
theft fraud. Nearly 30 percent of students
rarely, if ever, reconcile their banking
and credit card accounts and 48 percent
of students have had grades posted by their
social security number, according to the
study.
An
AOL study confirmed that identity theft
is the fastest growing crime in America,
with 900,000 new victims each year.
Jack
Pearson, chief of University Police at CSULB,
said no reports of identity theft have occurred
within the past couple of years.
“A
couple of arrests were made a few years
back,” Pearson said. “It may have stopped
because the people who committed the crime
were put in prison.”
But
it is also possible that these crimes have
not been reported to the campus police or
that students may not even realize that
it has happened because of their reported
lack of vigilance when it comes to keeping
track of bank and credit card statements.
Many
departments on campus, as well as teachers,
have access to students’ social security
numbers. Admissions and Records is attempting
to do its part in keeping a student’s social
security number safe by adhering to the
recently enacted law that bars businesses,
health care providers and schools from being
careless with a person’s personal information.
“We
always use paper shredders when disposing
of information,” Eva F., an Admissions and
Records employee said. “Students can also
request that no one, including themselves,
can have access to their personal information
without showing two forms of identification.”
Among
other things, a new California law requires
that schools only allow an individual to
use his or her social security number to
access a Web site if a password also accompanies
it. However, it is still possible to access
Beachboard, a Web site that enables CSULB
teachers to post grades and notices to their
students, using only a name and a social
security number.
Students
can protect themselves. The Federal Trade
Commission, the National Credit Bureau and
Bankrate.com have many suggestions.
•
Keep track of social security numbers and
never post them online.
•
Ask teachers and the school if an alternate
number for identification can be used.
•
Shred pre-approved credit card offers.
•
Ignore the stands offering free gifts for
signing up for a credit card at school.
•
Order credit reports from each of the three
major credit bureaus once every year to
ensure all information is correct.
•
Follow up with creditors if bills do not
arrive on time. This could be an indication
that a thief has stolen it or changed an
address to cover their tracks.
The
three major credit bureaus are Transunion,
Equifax and Experian. Credit reports can
be obtained online for $10 to $35. The first
three reports are free and consumers are
entitled to a free report if they have recently
been turned down for credit.
The Social Security fraud hotline is (800)
269-0271.
Also,
the National Credit Bureau offers consumers
the choice to “opt-out” of all pre-approved
credit card offers by calling (888) 5-OPTOUT.
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