Whether it's college students or any other age group, we have to be careful of identity theft."Identity theft is still very, very common," said Ken Newman, Central Pacific Bank Security Chief. "What's interesting is, when you look at it statistically, we've seen a drop in the number of incidents in the U.S. Down from about $11 million to $8 million."
That's the good news - the bad news is that each case represents an INCREASE in the dollar amount of theft.
"We're seeing an increase in the typical loss and that's almost doubling from $300 something, to $600 something," said Newman.
There you are - good news and bad news. The smarter the system gets, the smarter the bad guys get.
"And we think that's indicative of more sophistication in terms of the types of attacks that are being used to try and do a better job of making the illegitimate request look more legitimate," said Newman.
There are clues that will indicate your bank account or accounts have been compromised.
"First and foremost is, do you suddenly stop getting your bank statements or account statements?" Newman asked. "That could be an indication that someone has already taken steps to change information on your account."
Some final tips to keep you from being an identity theft victim.
"You should obviously be using on-line banking and monitoring your statements and accounts in a real-time basis and then you'll want to look for transactions," said Newman. "That's going to be a sign and then certainly as well, if you start receiving bills or statements from vendors you're not familiar with, for purchases that you haven't made. That could be an indication that your identity has already been compromised."
