Identity Control Glossary

Account Takeover In essence, account takeover is just that: a thief takes control of your account by fraud. It can be a credit card, checking, or other loan account, a home equity line of credit for example. They do this by stealing personal account information and fool a representative into giving them access to your account.

Check Washing Stolen checks that have been made out to you or written by you can be washed in certain chemicals to remove the handwritten or printed ink. In the place of the original figures, new, higher amounts are written in, and the checks are then cashed.

Credit Reporting Agency These are the companies that have come into preeminence in the financial world, responsible for compiling information on the financial behavior of every American consumer. They report their findings as well in the form of FICO scores which represent a consumer's credit history.

Data Encryption Because information passed between websites and financial institutions can be extremely sensitive - and valuable to identity thieves - the majority of web sites encode the date, scrambling them with complex algorithms that are then almost impossible for thieves to decode. Upon receipt at their intended destination, the files are decoded and processed safely.

Dumpster Diving When identity thieves rummage through garbage cans and dumpsters in a quest for sensitive financial documents or account information.

Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 Intended to lower the success and prevalence of identity theft, this federal legislation also helps sufferers of the crime

Identity Fraud Different from identity theft, identity fraud is when a thief creates personal information to commit a crime, instead of using stolen information from a real person.

Identity Theft When without legal permission, someone attempts to or succeeds in using another person's identity. This doesn't have to be for financial gain though it is primarily for this purpose.

Mail Fraud It has long been a federal offense to steal someone else's mail. But this has to do with the use of the mail system to commit a fraud. By mailing in someone else's pre-approved credit card application, for example, an identity thief has not only stolen someone else's mail, they have committed a fraud through use of the mail system.

Opt-out This has become an even more significant tactic to control your identity. By opting out of marketing mailings, consumers can limit access to personal information by would-be identity thieves. By registering as an opt-out consumer, you prohibit marketing firms and other business from selling or propagating personal information to financial institutions and marketers. By joining the opt-out lists, you are protecting yourself from mailbox cluttering junk mail, telemarketing calls, and all those nuisances. But more than nuisances, choosing to opt-out can help you control your identity.

Phishing Maybe you've heard from a lawyer in Africa who sounds like he's contacted you before. He wants to legally get millions of dollars out of his country through your checking account? Again, they want just a little bit of information, and in exchange you'll get a 10% service fee for your trouble. Well, that's phishing. It is the criminal act of tricking those unaware to send them confidential information, like account numbers or passwords. Those who make this mistake see their accounts drained of funds with no trail to find the guilty parties.

Shoulder Surfing With passwords flying left and right, it has never been more important for identity thieves to get their hands on yours. Shoulder surfing is when thieves watch someone as they use an ATM or in-store keypad to see what their personal identification number (PIN) is. Shoulder surfers have been known to implement binoculars across the parking lots from banks to get PIN numbers!