Identity thieves are upping their game. In their relentless pursuit of your personal identifying information (PII) they are constantly evolving in their technology and their techniques to stay one step ahead of you. It is up to you to take every precaution you possibly can, but even that may not be enough. You also need to stay abreast of how they are changing their tactics:

Credit Card Skimmers

Although credit card skimming has been around for a while as a proven method for stealing credit card information, it is becoming more widespread because anyone can now buy a skimmer for $40 on Amazon. Card skimming devices are placed on ATMs or point-of-sale terminals at gas stations waiting for victims.

We have long been warned to examine the card reader on the machine to look for anything out of the ordinary – a loose-fitting shape or an odd color.  But some of these skimming devices look authentic, and now thieves are placing a PIN-snatching overlay over the keyboard to capture PIN numbers. They can also watch your PIN entry from a nearby camera. 

The best defense is to be overly vigilant. Don’t use ATMs in remote locations. EMV chips are also being placed in most new credit cards in an effort to further encrypt our data. If you do not have a card with an EMV chip, call your bank or credit card provider and ask.

Phishing, Spoofing and Smishing

Phishing is another form of ID theft that has been common for quite some time. Despite heightened awareness by consumers, phishing fraudsters have been successful in staying a step ahead of security technology by upgrading the quality of their attacks. Phishing emails, which are designed to lure a person into providing sensitive account information or a Social Security number, are looking more authentic and are better at avoiding spam detection. The bottom line: don't open or respond to any email that looks suspicious. 

Some thieves will call you pretending to represent your bank or brokerage firm, an attack known as "spoofing." The person on the other end asks to confirm your PII or informs you that the information requires updating. In either case, they are quietly recording all of the information you provide in order to steal your identity. Most financial institutions will not call you directly, nor will they ask for your personal information over the phone. If you receive a call like this, hang up immediately.

Spoofing can also occur on your computer when a scammer sets up a fraudulent website to obtain information or install a virus. The website masquerades as a bank or a retail store, asking for log-in information as any legitimate website does. However, when you log in, the scammer can use your information to log into the real website and access your account. Don't click on any website links that appear to be suspicious. Instead, manually enter the website address in your web browser.

Smishing is similar to phishing, except it uses cell phone text messages as the lure (who comes up with this lingo?). In most cases, the text message return address is a URL or phone number. The message usually asks for your prompt response. If you don’t recognize the phone number or URL address, do not respond.

Whether it's card skimming, phishing, spoofing or smishing, the objective of the thief is the same: to trick you out of your personal identification information.  The only defense is your vigilance and your strict adherence to the cardinal rule of identity theft protection – under no circumstances should you ever provide sensitive information, including a credit card number or an account number, over the phone or through an email, unless you can absolutely verify the legitimacy of the caller. 

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