Alligator Online

An audience of about 70 learned how to protect themselves from personal identity theft at a free workshop in the Reitz Union Auditorium on Friday. Brenda Williams, an employee at the Alachua County Extension Service office, taught the audience how to safeguard themselves as consumers.

“I want you to go home and sleep well tonight,” Williams said.

An estimated three to four million cases of identity theft occur each year, Williams said, and college students are victimized more than any other age group.

Identity theft often goes unreported and even unnoticed by its victims because thieves make sure the victims never see bills for fraudulent purchases.

Williams suggested using a cross-shredder to destroy personal documents, shielding the keypad when using an ATM and inking out credit card information on receipts.

“Don’t make this easy for them,” Williams said. “Have fun with it.”

It is important to keep hotel room keys after checking out of a hotel because thieves can obtain the credit card number used to purchase the room, Williams said.

Social security numbers should not be written on checks or displayed on a driver’s license, she said.

“It should become a very sacred, non-used number if at all possible,” Williams said.

Many identity thieves obtain personal information from victims by stealing wallets, rifling through unlocked mailboxes and digging in the garbage. Other more technologically savvy thieves obtain information online using fake e-mails or software that tracks information typed into a computer.

“We need to be very skeptical whenever we look at an e-mail,” said Jordan Wiens, a UF information technology engineer.

Wiens also recommended choosing computer passwords that aren’t easy to guess, downloading current updates of Microsoft and using virus protection programs.

Williams said Florida residents can obtain one free credit report every year beginning in June. She urged the audience to take advantage of this privilege.

Mark Sterling, a UF employee, dealt with this crime in April 2004 when his wife’s identity was stolen by a woman with a similar name. The thief purchased a convertible and paid many of her bills fraudulently.

Sterling said no credit bureaus would speak to his wife about the crime until she bought a credit report from each bureau.

“Trying to report anything that has to deal with fraud is too difficult,” Sterling said.

Sterling said he received almost no help from police and tracked down his wife’s thief himself in 20 days. The thief received three months of probation Sterling said.

All UF students and faculty have access to free virus protection. To obtain additional public security information, visit http://infosec.ufl.edu/athome/.