Protecting identity essential as ID thefts soar

OREM — Karen Davis used to leave her purse in the car. She sometimes wouldn't lock the door. The other day she and her daughter were shopping at the store and misplaced their purses for a little bit.

But after going to an identity theft information meeting Tuesday night, the Provo resident decided to put those carefree habits in the past before it's too late.

Orem police spokesman Craig Martinez gave a two-hour presentation at Utah Valley University about identity theft and how to help prevent it. For two and a half years before becoming a spokesman, Martinez was a fraud detective in Orem and saw about 1,000 cases. He started doing these ID theft meetings on his own time to educate people on the fastest-growing crime in America.

"You can't get complacent," Martinez said. "You have to be stingy with your information."

Last year Martinez said there were 10 million cases of identity theft nationwide, and each of those victims lost an average of $1,620 and spent about 600 hours trying to fix the problems caused by the ID theft.

One-fourth all of those cases involved an item being stolen from the victim, he said.

Especially during the holiday season when more people are out shopping, Martinez suggested people keep track of their purses or wallets.

He said he often sees people in grocery stores who leave their purses in their cart while getting something down the aisle or even farther away.

Martinez also told of a case of a 60-year-old woman and her granddaughter who went into a restaurant in Orem and stole women's purses off the backs of their chairs without the victims even realizing it.

Besides simply taking items from a person, identities can be stolen through phishing scams, or bogus Web sites or e-mails that ask for sensitive information, which account for about 20 percent of identity fraud cases.

Phishing e-mails will often look like they come from a bank (or e-mail provider or other entity) and then ask for the victim to click on a link and verify things such as account number, Social Security number, name and birthdate.

Other phishing scams provide a number to call to verify similar information. He said if an individual gets an e-mail that asks him or her to click on a link or call to verify information, it is almost always a scam.

Martinez also said when buying or selling items on Craigslist or KSL, sometimes the buyer or seller is a scammer. To spot this, look for incorrect grammar, overpayment for an item or situations in which the only correspondence is through e-mail.