FBI talks about identity theft in Brownsville
BROWNSVILLE – The special agent in charge of the FBI office at Speers offered Brownsville residents tips on how to avoid identity theft and other problems, especially those related to the Internet. Special Agent Patrick Howley spoke recently to members of the Neighborhood Watch program.
“Myspace.com is no different than the Internet as a whole. It started as a great idea that got turned into something bad,” Howley said.
“Myspace scares the heck out of me and I wouldn’t let my kids on it. The Internet, your computer, should be in the middle of the house, out in the open in the family room. If your kid is logging off when you come into the room, be concerned.”
Howley recommended that computer users, especially those with children, install a good firewall program to prevent access to pornography and other undesirable sites or pop-up ads from their computers.
Howley said that from an FBI perspective, the biggest risk individuals face are threats to their financial and home security, particularly through identity theft.
“If you don’t already have a shredder, buy one,” Howley said.
Howley said it’s not enough to simply tear up credit card offers, because the letters can be reconstructed.
Howley said that individuals not using a shredder should tear up items that could lead to identity theft and dispose of the torn pieces in two different locations, such as at home and at the office, or to burn them in their fireplace.
He warned of various scams designed to bilk individuals out of money as well as stealing their bank or charge account numbers.
He cautioned against responding to any e-mails, letters or telephone calls requiring individuals to provide their user name, password or other account information for a routine security check, no matter how legitimate the request may appear.
“No one will ever call you over the phone or over the Internet for the information. If they are who they say they are, you have their numbers and you’ll contact them,” Howley said.
Howley said individuals wishing to donate their old computers to charitable or educational programs should take it to Best Buy to be securely scrubbed or actually destroy the hard drive entirely, since they are relatively inexpensive to replace.
“Remove the hard drive and smash it to bits,” Howley suggested.
Howley said individuals who think they may have been the victims of Internet fraud can file a complaint on-line at www.fbi.gov and using the Internet Crime Complaint link.