This week is National Protect Your Identity Week, sponsored by the Better Business Bureau and National Foundation for Credit Counseling. Identity theft prevention and resolution is something we live with every day here at Europ Assistance USA while protecting and assisting some of the 10 million Americans victimized each year. We provide ongoing protection to our customers and help them straighten out any damages that occur if they do fall prey to one of the fastest growing crimes around.
All this week, we’ve been highlighting a different kind of identity theft situation — how it happened and what was at risk, as well as how we were able to help alleviate some of the pain and protect the customer moving forward.
Today, we’re highlighting a story about a customer who was lured into giving up her social security number from a phishing scam. The Internet Crime Complaint Center reported that Americans lost about $559 million to Internet thieves in 2009 and phishing attacks, or fake email and other lures that persuade consumers to provide confidential data, are rising by as much as 20% a month, according to Symantec’s July 2009 State of Phishing report.
After her social security number was compromised from a phishing scam, a customer called USA’s 24/7 assistance center for help. She had been paying a medical bill online and received a pop-up window asking her to input her social security number. She complied, but later contacted the medical provider and learned that they had not requested, and never would request, her social security number using a pop-up on their website.
Our Identity Theft Resolution Specialist put a 90-day fraud alert on the customer’s credit report and helped her file a complaint with the FTC. To ensure that additional damage was not done to her credit and identity, we also enrolled her in identity tracking, which provides alerts if her social security number appeared in illegal trading forums and/or was being used fraudulently. The customer was also given credit monitoring so she could monitor her credit report regularly for any potential fraudulent charges. Our Specialist also helped her dispute an incorrect address that was associated with her name on the three credit reporting agencies’ records.
Thanks to this customer being aware of the potential for harm and contacting us quickly, we were able to enact proactive, preventative measures to stop any potential damage and detect fraudulent charges should her social security number become compromised.
This is just one of many common ways people fall prey to identity theft, and how EA USA can help them if they do. Tomorrow, we’ll share this week’s final example of how our customers have found themselves potential victims of ID theft.
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