Consumer authorities are warning college students they are the fastest-growing group being focused on id theft. And there are a bunch of good reasons why.
The BBB describes that students aren't monitoring their charge cards like old folks do plus they usually take more time to document fraud. Which means their losses will be a lot bigger.
The BBB said identity theft committed against people age 18 to 24 took about four months on average to detect. The typical student lost over $1,000, which is roughly 5 times above the total lost by other age brackets.
Professionals have these guidelines for college students to handle this issue:
1) Send hypersensitive mail to a parent's home or a post office box. University mailboxes are not always safeguarded and quite often can be accessed easily in a dorm or apartment.
2) Vital documents should be kept under lock and key. This includes a Social Security card, passport and bank statements. Shred charge card offers and any paper docs that have hypersensitive financial details rather than just throwing them out.
3) Make certain your pc has up-to-date antivirus and spyware and adware software. Always install any upgrades for your computer's operating-system or internet browser software, that really help live protect against any new ideas by id thieves online.
4) Look at your charge card statements closely for any dubious activity. The sooner you identify any potential fraud, the less you'll suffer in the long term.
Take advantage of credit monitoring and credit alerts to make sure that your data is secure. Don't let a rookie IT Department employee ruin your financial and personal security online. Use a recommended service with a proven system for finding and alerting of any major changes in your credit files so you can catch things as they happen.
The BBB describes that students aren't monitoring their charge cards like old folks do plus they usually take more time to document fraud. Which means their losses will be a lot bigger.
The BBB said identity theft committed against people age 18 to 24 took about four months on average to detect. The typical student lost over $1,000, which is roughly 5 times above the total lost by other age brackets.
Professionals have these guidelines for college students to handle this issue:
1) Send hypersensitive mail to a parent's home or a post office box. University mailboxes are not always safeguarded and quite often can be accessed easily in a dorm or apartment.
2) Vital documents should be kept under lock and key. This includes a Social Security card, passport and bank statements. Shred charge card offers and any paper docs that have hypersensitive financial details rather than just throwing them out.
3) Make certain your pc has up-to-date antivirus and spyware and adware software. Always install any upgrades for your computer's operating-system or internet browser software, that really help live protect against any new ideas by id thieves online.
4) Look at your charge card statements closely for any dubious activity. The sooner you identify any potential fraud, the less you'll suffer in the long term.
Take advantage of credit monitoring and credit alerts to make sure that your data is secure. Don't let a rookie IT Department employee ruin your financial and personal security online. Use a recommended service with a proven system for finding and alerting of any major changes in your credit files so you can catch things as they happen.