Crooks get Creative

When crooks get creative, we need to be creative too, to be careful what we thrown in the garbage and trash bins.

Here’s how thieves get their hands on your personal information. Stealing wallet is still a common method, but today’s thieves have more creative tactics, including:

• “Dumpster diving” to find credit card solicitations, loan applications, tax form- anything that contains personal information in trash bins.
• Stealing mail from unlocked mail-boxes to obtain new credit cards along with statements form banks, credit card issuers, and investment firms.
• “Shoulder surfing” – literally, looking over your should at ATM’s to capture PINs.
• Finding identifying information on Internet sites, including public sites such as motor vehicle and mortgage records and private fee-based information brokers.