Tips to Avoid ID Theft on Campus

Mon, 31 Aug 2020 13:58:28 -0400
learn, notice

With classes starting back up, malicious actors will try even harder to steal people's information or commit Identity theft. The article that is linked below has some tips for college students to help avoid Identity theft by monitoring your inbox and detecting fraud.

Here are some of the tips that are recommended for college students:

Send sensitive mail to your permanent home or post office box. Sending your more sensitive mail to a PO box or permanent home is considered much more secure.

Important documents should be stored away safely. Make sure documents like your Social Security card, passport, and bank and credit card statements are stored securely. As well to often shred credit card offers and any other paper document that has sensitive financial information.

Never lend your card or debit card to anyone. If you feel uncomfortable about lending your card just say no. This includes lending your card to a friend, or co-signing for a loan or financing for items like a TV. Also at an ATM making sure that no one is ‘shoulder surfing’ your PIN.

Guard your passwords. Do not give out your passwords to anyone, use strong passwords and do not use the same password for multiple accounts.

Watch out for phishing emails. Be careful not to click on links in unsolicited emails and texts. For more information on phishing email campaigns that could affect UMBC please check out the DoIT Security page main page for more updated information.

Make sure that your computer is up-to-date with antivirus and spyware softwares. Always install any updates and patches to your computer's operating system or browser software. These will help to keep your computer safe from malicious softwares.

Be careful while shopping online. For more information on tips to safely online please check out this article from the Better Business Bureau, https://www.bbb.org/article/news-releases/22474-bbb-warning-be-careful-purchasing-from-unknown-websites-during-covid-19

Check your credit report at least once a year. According to the article you are entitled to one free report a year from each of the tree reporting bureaus: TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. Look for any suspicious activity or inaccuracies. For more information on this please check the BBB article linked below, this article by the Federal Trade Commision (FTC), https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0155-free-credit-reports.

If you do receive any email that you suspect is a scam, please do not click on any URL or reply. Either of those actions confirms to the sender that your email address is valid. Please forward the message (with the email headers) to security@umbc.edu.

How do I forward full email headers?

https://wiki.umbc.edu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=1867970

For more information, please check out: