Says Davis, "If you don't have a firewall in place, many people know how to get into your hard drive when you're using a peer-to-peer network like Limewire. Once he's in, he simply does a search for 'password' or 'log-in'" and finds anything that might enable him to tap into financial accounts. Or he might find that PDF file containing the parents' last tax return replete with Social Security numbers at the top.
Much confidential information is found as well by "dumpster diving," but, says Davis, "We see an increasing trend of thieves going after peer-to-peer networks and social networking sites since these sites have so many users." "Hmmm ... search through my victim's actual trash or hack into his hard drive-I'll take the latter," reason savvy thieves.
Other Precautions
So the fraud alert is what may ultimately save your client's hide, but there are still things he and you can do to prevent the situation from getting that far out of hand.
First, make sure clients are using firewalls. Many clients are novices when it comes to computer security. In fact, until later versions of Microsoft's XP operating system, computers were sold with no firewall in place; it was the user's responsibility to find and install a firewall such as those available for free from companies like ZoneAlarm (http://www.zonealarm.com) or Comodo (http://www.comodo.com).
Second, says Bobbie Munroe with Fraser Financial in Atlanta, have your clients opt out of pre-approved credit card offers at http://www.optoutprescreen.com. Third, follow the lead of Paul Ahern with WealthTrust Arizona in Scottsdale and conduct client seminars on ID theft prevention. "Arizona leads the nation in ID theft, so we had the attorney general's office come in and speak to two workshops packed full of clients. Arizona [like certain other states] is at the top of the list because retirees are easy targets."
Fourth, don't forget to secure mailboxes. In some communities, residents are required to have curbside mailboxes from which thieves can steal all manner of valuable documents. Advise clients to install locking mailboxes that allow anyone to insert mail, but only the key holder to remove mail.
Make sure your clients establish fraud alerts, eliminate pre-approved credit card offers and follow our other simple precautions, and your practice should never be the victim of your clients' identity theft.
An independent financial advisor since 1981, David J. Drucker, MBA, CFP®, has been an industry influential for many years. Learn about his books, public appearances, Practice Lifecycle, Virtual Office News and the annual "Technology Tools for TodayTM" Conference at http://www.DavidDrucker.com.