Watch Your ID - Five Tips to Safeguard Your Information

[FIND] Investigations lead investigator, Thomas H. Humphreys, availed himself of the chance to speak to a group of retired folks at the Brentwood YMCA yesterday. The group, Silver Sneakers, is part of the Y's outreach to active older adults. The presentation, a 30 minute chat about common identity theft techniques, went over quite well.

If you would like to schedule a presentation, please click here to contact us.

Here are Nashville Private Investigator, Thomas H. Humphreys' thoughts on the afternoon:

Thank you Silver Sneakers and Margaret Williams, Active Older Adult Coordinator, for the chance to spend some time at the YMCA. Our meeting yesterday took place immediately post work out for this crew of active adults, so I was a bit concerned about keeping their attention. In the end, it was a wonderful time.

The presentation covered some basics about how fraudsters gain access to our information. Several of the folks had questions and showed a lot of interest in the topic, so I promised to post a brief recap of the presentation. Here are the broad strokes:

The Scams - Some of the Ways Nefarious Dudes Get Our Information

Dumpster Diving - Digging through the trash to find your information. (Very effective technique)

Skimming - Swiping your credit/debit card through a skimmer to get your details.

Phishing - Spam email that looks like a letter from your bank or a merchant (Bank of America, Amazon).

Theft - Good old fashioned thievery. Muggings, pick-pockets, etc.

Pretexting (social engineering) - A phone call or visit to your bank using a lie to get your information.

5 Tips to Safeguard Your ID

1. Keep only one card in your wallet. (I suggest a debit card with a very low balance).

2. Never let your card leave your sight. (Follow the waitress to the register. Watch her run your card.)

3. Use cash for most transactions.

4. Check ATMs for unusual devices and hide your PIN input. (Check card slots, look for any supurfulous items, be aware of your surroundings.)

5a. Shred

5b. Shred

5c. Shred (Buy a shreder and shred all paper that leaves your house.)

These are just the highlights of our presentation. When speaking at a live event, we cover each of these topics in detail. We show you pictures of ATM machines that have been compromised and ways to identify when there may be a problem. We offer real life examples of people who have had their ID stolen and the troubles they faced. We also cover indepth options for how to protect your informaiton.

Here are some helpful links for fraud prevention and awareness:

The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners

The Federal Trade Comission

Consumer Reporting

Hopefully we'll have the opportunity to share our presentation with other groups. If you would like Nashville Private Investigator, Thomas H. Humphreys, to speak to your group, click here to contact us.