The ease of e-commerce has been a boon for all sorts of people seeking to make an honest buck — or a dishonest one, for that matter. And Washingtonians seem to be especially popular marks.
According to the Federal Trade Commission’s compilation of Consumer Sentinel Network data, Washington saw the nation’s second-highest rate of identity theft complaints in 2014, 154.8 per 100,000 people.
In addition, six of the state’s metro areas landed in the national top 50 for consumer complaints of identity theft. Yakima ranked 124th nationally in that category with a rate of 80.1 complaints per 100,000.
“With the ease of smartphone apps and online banking, the thieves continue to find ways to gain access to clients’ accounts,” said Margaret Luera, manager of the Summitview branch of Washington Federal. “Many clients have had their card information stolen and only find out about it when a card has been printed with their information and used in another part of the country or out of the country and they receive charges on their card.”
The website of the state Attorney General’s Office, whose duties include consumer protection, lists various identity theft scams, dividing them into low-tech and high-tech varieties.
Obtaining a lost or stolen wallet, dumpster diving and mail theft are examples of the former. So is what’s referred to as “shoulder surfing,” the practice of spying over the shoulder of a person who is inputting a computer password, a PIN at a cash machine or card terminal or the information of someone filling out a form.
Identity thieves can succeed even if their methods are not high-tech, but crooks who choose that route have proved especially devious.
Sean Murphy, a security expert and CEO of PrivateGiant, based in Orlando, Fla., suggests five places that should make consumers wary of whipping out a credit or debit card:
• Insecure websites
• Out-of-the-way or concealed payment terminals
• Cellphone charging stations and kiosks
• Mobile and desktop apps that ask for card information outside the regular app store
• Trial offers that are purportedly free but require card information
Luera said her experience shows that Nos. 1, 2 and 4 on the list apply most in Yakima County.
She’s seen reports of clients who made a one-time electronic purchase, only to watch recurring charges pile up because their card information had been compromised. She also knows of incidents in which people ended up being taken to the cleaners because of carelessness at cash machines.
“Thieves have been known to put skimming devices on the ATMs and gain the card information and PIN,” she said. “They later can print a new card and use the PIN to clean out the bank account.”
Luera said the cash machines at Washington Federal are checked daily for such devices.
Although the onus is on consumers to do their due diligence before dishing out the digits, business owners can contribute to consumer security as well.
Chelsea Maguire, the communications director at the Spokane-based Better Business Bureau of Eastern Washington, North Idaho and Montana, said the agency examines safeguards on customers’ personal information when considering accreditation for a business.
Part of that process is ensuring the security of a merchant’s online payment process.
“We also look for businesses that take in personal information to have a clear privacy policy saying what they do with that information,” Maguire said.
She added that the BBB is happy to help business owners fortify their online presence and boost buyers’ confidence in e-commerce.
Card issuers are taking initiative, too, prompted in large measure by the infamous Target data breach of 2013, in which as many as 40 million customers had their credit card information hacked.
The next-generation cards contain an embedded computer chip that appears as a small, metallic square. On traditional cards, the data stored in the magnetic strip on the back doesn’t change, which makes them ripe for counterfeiting.
EMV cards are the new wave in plastic — the acronym stands for Europay, MasterCard and Visa — and Americans are just now starting to be introduced to them.
According to an answer sheet of FAQs on the website CreditCards.com, the new cards will not eliminate data breaches, but they will drastically increase the difficulty for criminals trying to profit from the stolen information.
Payment terminals are still catching up to accommodate EMV cards, so for the time being, issuers will retain the magnetic strip. That means buyers will be able to use card terminals with either format.
According to CreditCard.com, automated fuel dispensers have until 2017 to transition to EMV-compatible payment terminals.
©2015 Yakima Herald-Republic (Yakima, Wash.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
