Identity theft is a constant threat where your emails, computer, postal mail, and even your trash are all potential ways for someone to steal your identity. We all think we know what identity theft is and how to prevent it, but the reality is most of us do not even know the difference between identity theft and identity fraud. Identity theft is unlawfully stealing someone else’s identity. Identity fraud is actually using the stolen identity. There are many different tactics used to attempt to steal your identity. They may rummage through your trash, leave a malicious cookie in your computer browser, steal mail out of your mailbox, or trick you into voluntarily giving up this information through phishing. All of these methods have the same end goal of obtaining sensitive information such as your full name, mother’s maiden name, birthplace, birth date, and your social security number. Once this information is obtained by a criminal, they now have the ability to place charges on your account, apply for credit cards, or if they are very skilled, apply for a bank loan that will be charged to your name.

               I have had a very close call with identity theft. This attack was made through email as a phishing scam. The email came from what look liked a Penn State email address and offered me a paid internship with a business consultant. Everything appeared completely legitimate and I thought I was working with a university official. They continued to explain how I would need to work for 15 hours a week with a weekly salary of $600.00. This sounded like a dream come true, and would allow me to build professional work experience while making way more than what an average college student would. I was to work as a middle-man between the company and its customers by taking and placing orders. All they needed was my name and address to send me my first week’s pay if I wanted to accept the job. Once I agreed to accept the job, they noted that they would send me an extra $3,000.00 to cover an order they were going to have me place. This is when I started to become suspicious, because they were going to use my personal checking account to run business transactions through. After congratulating me for receiving the job, they then asked me for extremely personal information such as my date of birth and social security number. Now that I was suspicious I decided I needed to research this company more before giving them any more information. I Googled the name of the company and immediately saw warning about phishing scams run under this name. Apparently the check they send you bounces, and then they continue to impersonate the FBI and accuse you of dealing with an illegal company to pry more information from you. I immediately ceased all communications, and later received the check in the mail, which had no return address on it.  I then shredded the check and reported the incident.

               This lesson shows how even what appears to be the most legitimate of companies may be a well- crafted scheme designed to steal as much from you as possible. Attached is an article with tips on how to spot phishing schemes. College-aged students are easy targets for phishing attacks because of our lack of experience in identifying attempts to steal our identity. So take these tips and be safe out there.

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10-things/10-tips-for-spotting-a-phishing-email/