Identity Theft Protection Blog

By the AllClearID Team

Vanessa here with AllClear ID. We recently went over how college students can be an easy target for identity theft, but a recent survey of college students in the United Kingdom reveals the scope of this problem.  The survey, conducted by the British Government, asked college students about how they protected their online privacy. Ultimately, it found that most were failing to adequately protect themselves against the threat of identity theft.

A third of the surveyed students who had lived at a previous address while in school still hadn’t had their mail forwarded to their current address. Over three quarters of them hadn’t checked their credit score in the past year; two-thirds of them had never checked it, meaning they were totally unaware if their credit history was being compromised.

While that report is from across the pond the results would probably be the same if that survey was taken here in the US. As we’ve posted often on our blog, children and teenagers are being targeted by identify-theft scammers nearly as often as adults. And college students can make easy prey for identity thieves because they are like blank canvases – their credit reports are mostly blank, so they can be easily used to secure new credit.

ScamBusters.org, a nonprofit focused on identity theft protection, offers some good advice for college students to protect themselves.

• Keep your personal information under lock and key, and shred your old records. This is especially important if you have roommates as they have easy access to your mail and personal documents, making it possible for them to sabotage or duplicate your identity.
• Keep your computer information and access secure. If you’ve already shared a password with someone else, change it, and do so regularly. Don’t choose a password that might be obvious for someone who knows you to guess.  If you’re using a public or school computer make sure you log out of any online service or email account when you’re done.
• Keep your personal and financial information confidential. Roommates, study partners, and co-workers could learn a lot about you from your casual conversations. Don’t announce a new credit card or your PIN for ATM access to a group of friends. Don’t leave examples of your signature lying around. Details about your parent’s job or your sibling’s experiences should be kept confidential. Don’t leave a door open for later identity theft because of your willingness to confide.
• Conduct personal business privately. Don’t jot down passwords or other private information where others can find them. Lock up all your student loan and financial aid correspondence and other similar paperwork. Anything with your name, address, Social Security number, and phone number should be for your eyes only.

Read the rest of ScamBuster.org’s advice for college students to protect themselves. Also, be sure to check out the US Department of Education’s advice on why college students should care about protecting their privacy.

Views expressed are the personal views of the author and do not represent the views of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, its employees, its members, or its clients.