Fraud
and identity theft exist on campus There are warnings everywhere - from signs in the post office to commercials on TV - warning about identity theft and Utah State University students should be concerned. "It's very possible that these things can occur," Lt. Shane Sessions of USU Police said. Almost once a week, the Zions Bank in the Taggart Student Center files a complaint from students claiming inaccurate charges. Fraud has always been the reason behind charges, however, not identity theft, Jackie Newbold, Zions TSC branch service manager, said. Typical "identity theft" is the use of a stolen social security number to get information, open up a bank account, etc., Newbold says. Though fraud - when a person essentially "pretends" to be that person - charges are frequent, the USU Zion's Bank has yet to see a case of identity theft. Students may worry about using their social security numbers as student identification numbers, because it is used on everything from forms in the library to passwords on WebCT. Banner, the new integrated data management system for campus will change the current method, Rory Weaver, Banner Project Manager, said. "Only in the new millennium has it [use of social security numbers] become an issue," Weaver said. Students are wise to be excited for the Banner system and its added protection, he said, and an increase in identity theft was an incentive for USU to implement Banner. This was the case with "Sara" (name changed), a student at USU. Last spring, during finals week, a check on her Internet banking account showed $1,500 had been withdrawn in the past three days, Sara said, money she said she didn't withdraw. "I called the bank and told them that I didn't have any money in my account and that I didn't know why," Sara said. Finals week took a turn for the worse when the bank validated the charges. If this happens to you, Newbold advises, "Come and see if there were any transactions that [you] didn't authorize." Immediately close the account, open up a new one and report it to the police with the bank, she said. Sara and her roommate went to the bank that day, Wednesday, where Sara filed fraud reports and talked to a police investigator. Police told her that the first immediate suspects in any case like this are roommates, boyfriends and the student making the report, she said. "That was frustrating," she said. At dinner with her roommates the day after charges had been filed, Sara explained the police were checking the cameras at the ATM and tomorrow morning she would identify the person making transactions on her account, she said. The roommate who initially visited the bank and police station with Sara confessed to taking the money, explaining that she needed it because she was being blackmailed. "It made finals week really hard," Sara said. After a two-hour interrogation, it was discovered Sara's roommate was lying about the blackmail and had simply picked up Sara's debit card and pin number from Sara's bedroom, she said. "Just because you have a roommate, doesn't mean you can trust them," Sessions said. The two had lived in the same apartment all year long and never had any problems. It wasn't unusual for the roommate to be in Sara's room; they shared Sara's computer. Police have had one report in the past year of traditional identity theft at USU, Sessions said. The student had allowed someone - unintentionally - to view credit card information and was served a cell phone bill of $580. After filing charges, the student didn't have to pay because the company took care of the investigation, Sessions said. Newbold said if a student files a dispute at Zions Bank, the fraud department investigates and the bank will take care of the investigation. The student is responsible if the fraudulent charges are under $50, Newbold said. Sara's roommate was in prison for two months then deported to her home country. When Sara dropped all charges, the bank picked them up, she said. "I didn't want to sue her, I just wanted to go home," Sara said of the week last spring. "It was a mess. I hated it." Eventually, the money from the bank was re-credited to her account, she said, but Sara still incurred some consequences. Sara's cell phone bill for the month was almost $200 from telephone calls from the police, her family, the bank and the investigator. She missed two final exams and quit her job early because of time spent taking care of the fraud, she said. "The most important thing is to keep credit card and credit card information secure," Sessions said. "There's lots of ways" to have financial information get to an unwanted individual, so it is important to protect yourself, he said. Sessions said to shred documents - even pesky junk mail credit card applications. If a thief wanted to apply for a credit card in your name, the easiest way to do it would be to grab an application out of the mail and fill it out with a change of address form. "You want to destroy those kind of things," Sessions said. The best prevention is caution, he said. Sessions noted that most students are lucky because they have locked mailboxes. Those who don't should be especially careful to watch what is being mailed through them, he said. The main documents to watch and keep hidden or shred are bills, bank statements, credit card information and applications, as well as anything with your social security number or information, Sessions said. "It's hard to maintain security here," Sara admits. "I keep things with me - I don't leave them in my room," she says. "I am a lot more cautious." From:
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