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Taking Back myStateline Poll
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Stateline Identity Theft Prevention Tips
Identity theft is a growing type of fraud worldwide. With the boom in Internet communications and commerce more and more information is submitted electronically, which makes identity theft a growing problem worldwide. Identity theft involves stealing someone's personal identifying information (such as name, address, date of birth, social security number, credit card numbers, driver's license numbers). Criminals who steal this personal information will use it to fraudulently obtain credit, money, goods, services and other property, including insurance policies.
Upon falsely assuming an identity, thieves will commit crimes including: opening phony bank accounts, establishing insurance policies, stealing from established bank accounts, obtaining unauthorized credit cards, applying for car or house loans, and leasing apartments with false names.- Shred or tear up any personal financial documents before throwing them in the trash. THIS IS THE MOST COMMON WAY CRIMINALS GATHER YOUR INFORMATION!
- Do not print personal identifiers such as your social security number, date of birth or driver's license number of your check.
- Use your social security number only when necessary.
- Before revealing any information, online or in person, ask how it will be used.
- Do not answer personal, financial or identifying questions to an unknown telephone caller.
- Pay attention to billing cycles. ID thieves may reroute bills to another address to hide their illegal activities.
- Carefully review your monthly credit card statements, checking for any unauthorized use.
- Get a copy of your credit report at least once a year to check for errors.
- Eliminate the number of cards you carry, especially your social security card and passport.
Some quick things to do to minimize the chances of becoming a cybercrime victim:- Have virus protection software on your computer. Have it set to check every incoming email, web pages, floppy disks, cd roms, etc. UPDATE THE VIRUS DEFINITIONS OFTEN!
- Install an active personal firewall to minimize the chances of a hacker breaking into your computer.
- Keep computers out of children's rooms. THIS GOES FOR TEENAGERS ALSO!
- Never give out personal information over the Internet unless you are 100% sure it is a secure web site
- Talk to your children about the dangers of child pedophiles on the Internet.
- Know all of your children's passwords or do not allow them to be on the Internet.
- Shred all of your junk mail or bills before throwing them away.
- If you buy things online, I do and I feel it is safe when I research a safe site, use one specific credit card for that purpose. Check that card's monthly bills closely each month.
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Sexual Predators Online
One of the attractions of the Internet is the anonymity of the user, and this is why it can be so dangerous. A child doesn't always know with whom he or she is interacting. Children may think they know, but unless it's a school friend or a relative, they really can't be sure. Often we think of pedophiles as having access to children out on the playground and other places, but because of the way the Internet works, children can actually be interacting on their home computers with adults who pretend to be children.
Child sexual exploitation occurs in every economic, social, ethnic, and religious group. With the explosion of the Internet into a powerful, worldwide medium, the danger to children, whether they are from New York or New Zealand, has drastically increased. Pedophiles and other sexual predators can use the Internet, with no precautions, to exchange names and addresses of other pedophiles and of potential child victims. Hidden behind screen names that are pseudonyms, they gather online and swap child pornography with amazing speed and in amounts beyond our wildest imagination, which excites them to molest even more.
Offline, pedophiles typically operate in isolation. Never before have pedophiles had the opportunity to communicate so freely and directly with each other as they do online. Their communication on the Internet provides validation, or virtual validation, for their behavior. They share their conquests, real and imagined. They discuss ways to contact and lure children online and exchange tips on seduction techniques. They are using the technology of the Internet to train and encourage each other to act out sexually with children. The Internet also serves as a tool for predators to exchange tips on the avoidance of law enforcement detection.
The most common means by which sexual predators contact children over the Internet is through chat rooms, instant messages and email. In fact, 89% of sexual solicitations were made in either chat rooms or instant messages and 1 in 5 youth (ages 10-17 years) has been sexually solicited online (JAMA, 2001). Considering that 25% of kids online participate in real time chat and 13 million use instant messaging, the risks of such children, either knowingly or unknowingly, interacting with a predator is alarming. See Parents Safety Guide section.
To Report Illegal Online ActivityThe National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) provides excellent resources concerning sexual exploitation of children and related issues for the lay public, counseling community, and law enforcement agencies. NCMEC has created an extensive web presence for its Exploited Child Unit: http://www.missingkids.com. These web pages provide background information on laws and legislation, tips and pointers for parents and children, and lists of preventive resources on the various aspects of child sexual exploitation.
In addition to its Web pages, NCMEC, in partnership with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Customs Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, serves as the National CyberTipline. To report possible illegal online activity related to child pornography, predation, or any other type of child sexual exploitation, call the CyberTipline: 800-843-5678
(800-TheLost) or contact their Web site: http://www.missingkids.com
Courtesy ProtectKids.com
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Taking Back MyStateline Story Idea
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Report a Cyber Crime
Cyber Watch 911
CyberTip Line
Report Child Sexual Abuse
703-549-4253
(The National Center for the
Prosecution of Child Sexual
Abuse)
ObscenityCrimes.org
