Massachusetts Identity Theft & Scams Prevention Webinar Presentation

Thousands of residents across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts are falling victim to the rising issue of identity theft and scams. People must know about the various ways scammers can steal information and money, whether it’s through online scams, phone scams or mail scams. The Office of the Attorney General would like to invite you to a webinar on Identity Theft & Scams Prevention.

This presentation will outline the different types of scams and how to best avoid them. Additionally, it will also explain what identity theft is and what to do when it happens to you. It is important that all residents of Massachusetts are given the tools necessary to identify a scam so that their information and money are never exposed.

This webinar will be held on Tuesday, May 7th, 2019, at 10:30 a.m. Register Here:

https://idtheftwebinar.eventbrite.com

If you have any additional questions or comments you can email our office at:AGOCommunityEngagement@mass.gov.

We hope you can join us!

Community Engagement Division

Office of the Attorney General Maura Healey

MASSPIRG: Tips for Target's data breach

The great folks at MASSPIRG have provided this list to assist in protecting consumers.

Consider joining their mailing list and supporting their efforts.


From MASSPIRG:

Target now admits it wasn't 40 million consumers who had their credit and debit card numbers stolen in December -- it was between 70 and 110 million consumers.[1]

And it wasn't just credit card or debit card numbers and their security codes and expiration dates that were taken. Target now admits that the heist included names, mailing addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses.

Passwords were also taken from Target customers, but they were encrypted, so you shouldn't have to worry about thieves cloning your card to use in ATM machines.[2]

Companies need to do a better job protecting our personal information. That’s clear. And we will help make sure Target is held accountable.

But what should you do now to help protect yourself? Here are tips from our expert on fraud and identity theft, consumer program director Deirdre Cummings:

(1) Don't panic. Do check your credit card and bank account statements regularly for fraudulent transactions and report them immediately to your provider. The most likely use of the card numbers will be to attempt fraud on your existing accounts. You have strong anti-fraud protections by law.

(2) Beware of "phishing." Now that we know that email addresses and phone numbers were also taken, be aware of "phishing" emails or phone calls, even calls or emails purporting to be from your bank's fraud department. When a thief has some of the information needed to commit identity theft, he will call or email you to try to get the additional information needed to open new accounts in your name.

Never click on any links in emails, even if they appear to be from your bank. Never give any information to anyone who calls you, even if the caller says something like: "I am going to tell you your account number to verify that this is a legitimate call."

If you are concerned about information from a call or email, don't reply directly. Instead, call the number on the back of your card and ask for the fraud department.

(3) Don't pay for expensive credit monitoring services. You have the right under federal law to look at each of your three credit reports once a year for free at annualcreditreport.com. You can stagger these requests -- one every four months -- to do your own credit monitoring at no cost.

If you suspect you are a victim of identity theft, you can call each bureau directly for an additional free credit report. And because you live here in MA, under state law you are eligible for yet another free report annually by calling each of the three major credit bureaus. You can also choose to set up a security freeze, preventing credit bureaus from giving creditors access to your report.

(4) So long as you can avoid running up credit card debt, always use credit cards in stores or online. Your rights are stronger by law with credit cards than debit cards, and you don't run the risk of missing funds from your checking account for weeks while the bank conducts a fraud investigation.

You can find more detailed tips on identity theft here.

Please let us know if there is anything else we can do to help.

Sincerely,



Janet S. Domenitz
MASSPIRG Executive Director

[1] Elizabeth A. Harris and Nicole Perlroth, "For Target, the Breach Numbers Grow," New York Times, January 10, 2014.
[2] Aaron Katersky and Susanna Kim, "Target Admits Customer PIN Data Removed but Says It's 'Secure'," ABC News, December 27, 2013.

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Data breach victim? Steps you can take now

Save this link in case you need to address current or future problems:

WWW.CONSUMER-ACTION.ORG

Thursday, December 19, 2013

In light of the recent news about Target’s data security breach, Consumer Action, the National Consumer Law Center and U.S. PIRG remind consumers that:

1. Your liability for fraudulent charges is limited under federal law.

Credit Cards: Under federal law, your responsibility for unauthorized credit card charges is limited to $50, and in some cases would be $0.

Debit Cards: Your responsibility for debit card fraud charges is a bit more:

• $50 if you notify the bank within 2 days.
• Up to $500 afterwards.
• Unlimited if you fail to report the fraud charges within 60 days after you receive your bank statement.

Also, since the money to pay the debit card comes directly out of your bank account, you won’t be able to use that money until the fraud charge is reversed.

Both VISA and MasterCard have “zero liability” policies that limit your losses to $0, but these are voluntary policies.

Finally, when you contact your credit card company, don't pay a fee to receive a replacement card - even during the holiday shopping season. Ask the issuer to waive the expedited fee to send a replacement card. For more information on reporting card fraud, see Consumer Action's Credit Card Fraud module.

2. Check your credit report, but don’t panic.

If you are worried that a security breach has made you a target of identity theft, check your credit report - it's always a good idea to do that regularly. But theft of a credit card number is unlikely to lead to the thief opening new accounts. That’s because the key piece of information needed for “new account” ID theft—your Social Security Number—is not part of the credit card data.

3. Don’t pay for expensive credit monitoring or fraud detection services.

You can check your credit report for free once a year using www.annualcreditreport.com—no need to pay for a monthly service.

As for fraud detection services, some of them have been known to do questionable things. For example, one of these companies, LifeLock, paid $11 million to the Federal Trade Commission in 2010 to settle charges that it used false claims to promote its identity theft protection services.

4. The strongest prevention against ID theft after a breach is a security freeze.

A security freeze prevents your credit report from being shared with potential new creditors. If your credit files are frozen, a thief will probably not be able to get credit in your name. You have a right to place a security freeze on your credit report under the law in most states, and freezes are available to residents of all 50 states. For more information, see:

• Consumer Action's Security Freeze module.
• NCLC identity theft tips.
• U.S. PIRG's identity theft tips.