On January 13 as the luncheon was cleared away and the members of the Sippican Woman’s Club in Marion settled in to to hear their guest speaker, millions of people throughout the world were being ripped off, scammed, or having their identity stolen.
That’s why Robin Putnam, research and special projects manager for the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, had been invited to provide guidance, insights, and a surprising bit of humor to these women who would not be victims if they could help it.
Putnam’s hour-plus discussion covered a wide range of 21st century problems – from robo telephone calls to charity fraud to having one’s outgoing mail stolen from a rural route mailbox – and with each situation, Putnam provided safety solutions that either stopped the problem or mitigated the impact.
On the subject of identity theft, Putnam urged everyone to be very vigilant, to check all online accounts at least twice a month, to question even the smallest suspicious transaction, and to change passwords frequently.
She suggested getting away from using the names and birthdates of family pets and family members, opting instead to use song lyrics. Putnam said that those involved in criminal activities over the Internet had “billions” of dollars to spend on technology geared to taking away what others have built, including bank accounts and other assets.
Putnam said, “Monitor accounts like a hawk!” The national average to clear up one’s identification after it had been breached and used for illegal activities is 350 hours. She said that, at first, the thief might only hit an account for a few dollars as a test, followed by a total slamming of the account.
Putnam also suggested that we should regularly check our credit rating. She said that looking at one’s credit report about every three months helps. If you find anything out of the ordinary, contact the credit-reporting agency. Putnam said to check your credit at http://www.annualcreditreport.com, a site that is approved by the Federal government to offer an annual free credit check-up.
A child’s social security number can also be breached, Putnam said. Parents, she said, should put locks on their children’s social security numbers that could be acquired by sophisticated computer programs and then used sometimes for years before the breach is discovered.
Scammers are a unique group that attempt to prey upon people’s compassion, Putnam warned. She shared a personal story about her grandfather who had been paying small sums of money to numerous charities over many years, which drained the old gentleman’s bank accounts to unhealthy levels.
“I wasn’t the most popular niece in the family when my aunts found out I was digging into this,” she said. But the end result saved her grandfather further loss.
Here are a few of the other tips Putnam offered:
– When buying gas and using electronic payment methods, make sure the device appears stable and unaltered, or better yet, pay in cash. Heat-seeking technology allows thieves to find out what pin numbers you touched; protect yourself by touching all the keys after your transaction.
– Never use self-checkout registers. Putnam said these stations are not monitored well and can be targeted by thieves who install equipment that record account and pin numbers. She also said to make sure you cover your fingers when keying in your pin numbers as security cameras can be breached.
– Do not use portable debit machines – period!
– Regarding credit cards with chips, Putnam said that without a pin number these are not any more secure than the old fashioned credit cards. And oh, by the way, if your cards still have the magnetic strip on the back, they can be subjected to security breaches.
– If you mail payments via check and the USPS, do NOT place outgoing mail in a mailbox outside your residence. “That flag is a signal to thieves – come over here!” Putnam said with a chuckle. Take your payment directly to the post office.
– As for those annoying robo calls – just don’t answer the phone. “If you answer the phone, while you are saying “hello, hello” your telephone number is being distributed to other robo call centers.”
But when all is said and done, two words summed up the major take-away from Putnam: “constant monitoring.”
Putnam said to contact her office with any concerns, and that a “real person” will answer your call. That, in and of itself, sounds reassuring to me. Call 617-973-8700 or 617-973-8787 or you may visit mass.gov/ocabr for more information on the best practices for battening down your security hatches.
By Marilou Newell