05.30.08
Identity Theft and Your Mobile Phone
This week, we may have been the victims of identity theft. We are having renovations done in our house which means there are unattended workers during the day. Last night, my 10 year old claimed to have “lost” his phone. Of course I reacted very calmly (NOT!…since it’s not even a month old) while we tore apart every inch of the house. Then, I noticed my Ipod missing from my night table. After that his twin brother noticed his Ipod missing from the computer where he had left it charging. Also missing was my old mobile phone that I left with my boys as a spare.
Of course my first reaction was to blame the kids. After all, their room tends to look like gale force winds passed through it even on a good day so it’s no wonder something could get lost….but 4 things in a row? Something wasn’t right. Well, I’ll never be 100% sure if one of the workers actually stole the items or whether they’ll turn up in a sock drawer, the dog’s crate or even the plumbing for the toilet but what I do know is lost or stolen, there was a ton of personal information on those phones.
So what was on my phone? To start, about 80 or so contact ID’s: names, phone numbers, photo ID’s and email addresses. In addition to that was my call history and uncleared text messages. It gets even better - I thought I was pretty slick and input all of my rewards point programs and passwords into my notepad - wait, it still gets better….I input all of the combination lock codes into the notepad as well. Want a bike? The code is there. My son input his 2 locker numbers and combination codes into his phone. Then there are the pictures…all with clearly labeled file names. Any one can tie the picture back to the contact list. It goes on and on.
As I write this I am beginning to feel more and more violated. If someone wants to they could pretty much piece my family’s life together. Imagine if it was a blackberry? People store physical addresses, activate auto logins to their emails, bank accounts, etc. It’s just endless and we wonder how we become victims of Identity Theft!
Has this ever happened to you? What did you learn from it and how do we protect ourselves and our families?
Stumble it!
Phil said,
May 30, 2008 at 12:41 pm
OK - you’ve just reminded me to ban kids from using any gadgets and make sure I do all my home improvements myself (or at least stay home to supervise)! Well, maybe not.
There are a couple of options…password protect any device. As annoying as it is to re-enter your pin on a blackberry every five minutes, it’s good protection. I left my phone in a restaurant last week with every pin code I ever created, including those for the garage door openers to my home!!! I have my phone back and am confident no one accessed my info. If you really don’t need to record a pin or password somewhere, then don’t. (Do you really need to write your own social security number or ATM code down anymore?)
Even when you do need to record pins and passwords somewhere, use partials so you can remind yourself what the complete number is (e.g., ABC***, versus showing the full ABC123).
Finally, on GPS systems, never put your real home address in as “home.” You know how to get home once you’re close, so put a neighbor’s address or a local cross-street. Just remember, if your car or GPS is stolen, not only can they find where you live, they can likely get into your home if you have a garage door opener.
Sleep well.
-p
Valerie said,
May 30, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Phil –
Good point about the GPS for the car. I make a point of keeping the door from the garage into my house locked, too.
(And I never even thought to store so much information in a phone!)
Valerie
CreditMom said,
May 30, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Thanks Phil…and I was thinking I was pretty savvy. I guess it takes this type of experience to ground you. Will be changing the GPS and for now, I’m not storing any more pins or passwords in my phone. I’m a little less worried about someone getting into my house because I have a maniac dalmation…of course did me a lot of good while she was crated with the workers at my house!
Claudia said,
June 2, 2008 at 9:58 am
I would never allow workmen in my home when i or someone else (family member,neighbor, SOMEONE) wasn’t there.
I once had my oil furnace cleaned and i headed back to work after asking him to lock the basement/garage door behind him. He not only cleaned my furnace he cleaned me out of a vise that must have taken some time to remove, as it was attached by 4 bolts to a workbench in my basement. To be honest, i never used the thing, it came with the house, but it still ticked me off to no end.
If nothing else, report the loss to the company who hired these guys. Maybe they didn’t do it, but maybe other customers have reported thefts in the past at jobs they worked at, so don’t assume that since you can’t prove it it’s not worth the bother.
CreditMom said,
June 2, 2008 at 10:23 am
Thanks for your response. I actually did report it to the company and the owner indicated he would make good on all of the items. Unfortunately, it is not possible for someone to always be in the house when there are workers. So what we have done is placed all of our valuables in a room that locks. I don’t think someone is going to go through the effort of breaking a lock but if things are left in plain site it’s just too tempting and we feel pretty silly right now for not thinking of this before!
Corey said,
June 2, 2008 at 10:39 am
My GPS shows my home address as a vacant lot 2 streets over from my actual address. I figure once you are in your own neighborhood, do you really need the GPS to guide you to your doorstep?
Bruce said,
June 2, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Well, technology is absolutely wonderful for improving all sorts of aspects in our lives, but when taken too far it can also be very dangerous. If there’s a “lesson” to be learned here I think it’s that certain information is best not stored on an electronic device that can easily be lost or stolen. Yes, password protecting the device is certainly helpful, but I still think it’s best to not put too much of one’s life onto such a device.
beth said,
June 4, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Wow. A great reminder for all of us to watch our backs, unfortunately at your expense creditmom! I’m pretty sure your cell phone company can track down who is using your son’s phone now b/c in order to use it again, the phone has to be registered somehow. It may be worth the effort to try and track it down. These guys deserve to be punished!
CreditMom said,
June 4, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Hi Beth,
Thanks for your response. I actually called Verizon to report the phone stolen and they told me that the serial number will be on the stolen list and therefore no one can activate it unless of course they did that prior to my reporting it….not sure if I totally buy that one. In addition, they can probably figure out how to activate it on another carrier if they are a bit savvy. In terms of the Ipod…totally out of luck on that one too. I thought if I reported the serial number stolen Itunes would not reactivate…nope! According to some research I did, Apple considers it a privacy issue to track down Ipods…..not sure if I’m buying that one either!
Daniel said,
June 23, 2008 at 9:58 pm
I read similar article also named 217;s on YOUR mobile phone? | Credit Mom Blog, and it was completely different. Personally, I agree with you more, because this article makes a little bit more sense for me
Scam said,
July 20, 2008 at 2:49 pm
What happened to you is unfortunate, but probably all too common.
There are a great many people who do as you do, even to the point of recording PIN numbers ON their bank cards!!
Have you since had any further problems that could be related to identity theft?
Please tell me you’ve requested a credit report and checked it thoroughly…
CreditMom said,
July 20, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Hi, thankfully I did not have any ID theft related issues. And, actually one of the first things I did was request my credit report and review it with a fine tooth comb. Thanks for the advice!
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September 1, 2008 at 12:01 pm
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