College student are identity theft's dream. Students are five times more likely to be victims of identity theft than the general population. The reasons for this are simple. They usually live near other students, and they just don't think it will happen to them.
Identity theft can result in your bank accounts and brokerage accounts being looted; being hounded by a debt collector for a debt that you did not incur; becoming unable to access your own credit cards and being arrested for crimes committed by thieves who have stolen your identity. In turn this can affect their eligibility for student loans. You might receive improper medical care because your medical records have been corrupted. It can also ruin your credit rating which can affect your ability to rent an apartment or get a loan, a job, and insurance. As a parent myself, this stuff only raises my blood pressure.
How do I keep my blood pressure down?
Dorms and Student Housing: Wallets, credit card statements and other personal papers should be locked securely. If you are like me, I find debit cards just sitting in my kids' cars. Statements and money laying around in a messy bedroom. Just because my student has gone off to college does not mean they are any cleaner, cautious, or wise. Just with a photo of the front and back of a credit card an enterprising scam artist can quite easily make purchases and have them delivered by Amazon before you are aware.
Discarding papers containing personal information such as bank account numbers, credit card numbers or a Social Security number by merely throwing them in the trash is an invitation to dumpster diving identity thieves to gather the trash and turn it into their gold.
Smartphones and Social Media: College students often do not properly protect their smartphones with security software or even a proper password.
Whatever is the latest social media platform, such as Instagram, they may click on the links not knowing that those take them to identity thieves posing as their friends or online businesses. Those links don’t take them to the promised pictures or product, but instead download keystroke logging malware that will steal all the information from their computer, phone or tablet and turn him or her into a victim.
Free Music and Games: I think we all have download free games without a thought to the fact that these free things come with a price – identity theft. Often the free music and games are tainted with keystroke logging malware that the student unwittingly downloads when downloading the music or games.
Passwords: Many students may be careless with their passwords, using the same one for every device and account. Many use the name of a pet, which they might also proclaim on their social media page for the world to see. (Charlie, Daisy, Buddy, Bella, and Luna are the top five dog names in America. I have had two of them.) Frankly any word that appears in the dictionary makes a poor password because identity thieves have programs that can decipher any password in a matter of moments if it is a word in the English language. The best passwords contain a long mix of small letters, capital letters and symbols. You can make it a phrase, such as DadIS#1!!! Each of those exclamation points at the end of the password provides much added protection.
Security Questions: It is important to give sufficient thought to security questions and use information that is not available online. Your student should never use security questions involving a pet’s name, birthdate, high school, favorite sport team or anything that can be found on the Internet. In fact, a foolproof security question is one where you give a nonsensical answer, such as answering “What is my favorite car?” with “Miami Beach.” It is so off the wall you will never forget it.
Wi-Fi: We all often use Wi-Fi in coffee houses, airports, and other public places with little concern that the Wi-Fi that they are using may be set up by the identity thief at the next table rather than the legitimate Wi-Fi for the location. Identity thieves can easily set up a Wi-Fi in a public place to gather personal information. It is also important to remember that it is not enough to have security software and anti-malware software installed on your electronic devices. You must keep these programs constantly updated. Identity thieves rely on the fact that too many people fail to keep their security software and anti-malware software current so that when a new virus comes out, their devices will have no defense.
Identity Theft Protection: For a nominal fee you can buy identity theft protection for everyone in your household. I have it on my family, and it is always monitoring the dark web where people buy and trade identity information. If our passwords, card numbers or data are found we are immediately notified. Most also carry a level of insurance so that if you are a victim the ID Protection company is fighting for you rather than trying to do it all by yourself.
Now I know you are probably thinking that I am going to try and sell you ID protection. My firm does offer protection that my clients can purchase, but no matter where you purchase yours, financial firm, bank or online, just know those blood pressure numbers should come down knowing you are protected.