Another form of identity theft that has been around for awhile and is getting some recent publicity is “spoofing”.  Spoofing allows callers to disguise the phone number they are actually calling from.  There are services that allow callers to register with them, then enter a caller ID number that they want to display on the recipient’s phone, then they enter the number they want to call.  They can choose a male or female voice to be heard by the person that picks up and they can also record the call. 

Spoofing is often used by identity thieves to pretend to be someone in an official capacity, calling to persuade unsuspecting victims to give personal or financial information.  Because they can easily scare people by claiming there may be some suspicious activity on their bank account, it is hard to resist giving the information asked for to protect financial accounts. 

WHAT TO DO TO PROTECT YOURSELF

1) Realize your caller ID may not be showing you exactly who is calling – don’t assume it is accurate.

2) NEVER give financial or personal information out over the phone unless you initiated the call.

3) Remember that your bank already knows your account numbers and doesn’t need to ask you for them.

4) Be suspicious of callers asking for “confirmation” of your info, including social security number, credit card numbers and credit card security codes.

5)  Tell them you will call back with the requested information, then hang up and call your actual bank or credit card company yourself.  Look on your statements or the back of the credit card for the customer service phone number.

6) If you already gave your information over the phone, contact your bank or financial company to tell them you may have been scammed.

7) Do not call phone numbers listed in email “alerts”.  Look up the number for that account from your own statements and call to ask about it.

8) Check your account statements each month for suspicious or unknown activity. 

9) Check your credit reports three times a year to be vigilant for fraudulent activity.  You can do this at no cost by going to www.annualcreditreport.com.  You get one free from each of the three credit bureaus every year, so check one bureau every four months for monitoring purposes.

10) Report phishing and other scams to the Federal Trade Commission.

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