The holiday season brings families and friends together. It’s a blessing for some, but for others … not so much. These are the families whose relatives and friends include at least one drug addict, alcoholic, convict, compulsive shopper or gambler or a get-rich-quick scammer. In other words, these are the families who need to worry about ID theft.
Few ID theft victims can identify the culprit, but among those who can, 50% point to a friend, family member or in-home employee, according to a study by Javelin Strategy and Research.
So, can you predict with any likelihood whether any of your friends or family members would take advantage of a holiday gathering to steal your identity? Yes. Those who’ve already suffered the pain of ID theft and family betrayal identified these attributes of their imposters in a survey by the Identity Theft Resource Center:
- 42% said the imposter was an alcoholic or addict
- 54% said the imposter had a criminal history
- 32% said the imposter had previously stolen identities of other family members
So, how can you protect yourself when a suspect family member will be part of a holiday family gathering?
- Keep only cash in your wallet. Lock credit cards away in a safe or locked file drawer. If you must carry a driver’s license, put it in your pocket.
- Keep mail, financial statement and checkbooks out of sight. The best place for them is in a safe or locked drawer.
- Make sure your computers are password protected and/or encrypted.
