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CNN Live Today
Protect Yourself from Online Theft
Aired November 26, 2002 - 10:29 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: So how can you protect yourself agaisnt identity theft? And where can you go to find out if someone is actually tampering with your credit?
For some tips, we turn to CNN's Daniel Sieberg right here in our Atlanta newsroom.
Daniel, is it easy to be able to check on your credit situation.
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly is, and that's the advice we're hearing from a lot of these agencies, saying the important thing to do is to check your credit report, see if it's being abused in any way. And make that sure that everything is accurate enough today. You know, people want to buy things online, it's Christmas season coming up, so you know, you're just going to have to be careful and be cautious.
So we want to give people some tips and point to some places online where you can to get this information. The first one we want to do is go to some of the major credit reporting sites. The first one people might be familiar with is equifax.com. Now, at this site, once you're there, it looks like there is some links that you can go to. There is also a place you can you go to in order to subscribe or pay for a service that allows you to check your credit report.
Now when I spoke to the FTC, they did say, you are going to be providing your credit information and your Social Security number in order for them to give you your credit report, but they do it in a secure manner, and that's crucial. Whenever you're doing any transaction online that the transaction is secure. It's encrypted so the information that's going back and forth is being protected in some way.
From there, we'll take peel about experian.com. This is another one of the major credit reporting agencies. Similar, you can see up at the top here, it actually includes information about other countries, other places around the world. If you are interested in your credit report, you do live somewhere else, you can get information there as well.
Finally, there is transunion.com. They're all sort of similar in a sense. You do have to pay for it. There are different payment plans, depending on how much information you want to get, how often you want to get the information, and whether you want to get it from all the credit unions or reporting agencies, or just the one. So the prices do range. ' And so we should point out also, there are other ways to contact these credit reporting agencies. They have some phone numbers. These are toll-free numbers, and we have a list of them from Equifax to Experian to Transunion, and those numbers you can see up on the screen now. Those are the three different numbers you can call. Aside from going to their Web sites, and you see the number's there.
Now, there are also some tips that we can give people when you're surfing online and you want to be buying things. You always want to use trusted and well-known sites, names that you're familiar with. If you're not familiar with it, if it seems like it's a little bit sketchy or you're not certain where it's from, then don't use it, and avoid also -- when you're creating a password, avoid obvious information. You don't want to use your own name or a maiden name, or something that people could obviously determine about you.
You want to be weary of unsolicited e-mail scams. If you're getting e-mail, you don't know the source of it in some way, you don't want to reply back to it, and you never want to send information back that's sensitive, like your credit card information, or Social Security number.
Also, you just want to close your Web browser once you've finished all of your online transactions, close your Web browser, make sure no one can see it if they come by your desk, for example, and that it's just removed from the system, that it's no longer up on your computer.
Those are just some of the tips people may want to check into. The Federal Trade Commission has got its own Web site as well. You can go to ftc.gov, and find more tips from there.
But you know, in talking with all sorts of different people about this, they say, with hard material information , if it's on paper or some other document like that, you know, Carol, the best thing you can possibly do is put it into a shredder like that, and there's no trace it have anymore. That's if you're dealing with hard material rather than online.
LIN: We use ours for kindling in the wintertime.
Hey, Daniel, quick question for you, you said in going on to these sites, make sure that they have extra security or encryption, because you do have to give some of your personal information just to even get your credit report. What do you look for on the Web site to know whether it is a secure site?
SIEBERG: Good point. Now the easiest thing to look for is at the top where you see the actual address of where you are surfing. It often says "http." If you've go to a secure site, it will say "https," and there will also be often in the lower right corner of your browser, you'll see a little lock, that looks like a little padlock, and that means that where you are now is secure, it's got an encrypted type of program that's running while you're putting your information online. If you don't see that, you should be very cautious. Contact the site where you're surfing and see if they've got some sort of encryption they're using. But most retail sites online have some sort of encryption, have that way. It's automatic.
LIN: So what does that mean when it's encrypted? Does it mean that somebody from the outside can't access, or what about people who actually work for that company who might be selling information for personal gain?
SIEBERG: Well, it should mean that nobody can access that information, that it's going from one person to another, and that the only people who can see it are the people who can see it are the people who need to see it.
Now if there's an inside job and there is someone who is inside a company and could access that information, then there's that possibility, but it is designed mainly to keep someone from the outside from looking in. So a hacker or somebody who could try and get into that transmission of data. It's stopping them from getting access to that information, and that's the least that you want to do. But you never can be too cautious when you're talking about your personal information, and if you're buying something online, you always have to be careful.
LIN: You bet. Thanks, Daniel.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 26, 2002 - 10:29 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: So how can you protect yourself agaisnt identity theft? And where can you go to find out if someone is actually tampering with your credit?
For some tips, we turn to CNN's Daniel Sieberg right here in our Atlanta newsroom.
Daniel, is it easy to be able to check on your credit situation.
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly is, and that's the advice we're hearing from a lot of these agencies, saying the important thing to do is to check your credit report, see if it's being abused in any way. And make that sure that everything is accurate enough today. You know, people want to buy things online, it's Christmas season coming up, so you know, you're just going to have to be careful and be cautious.
So we want to give people some tips and point to some places online where you can to get this information. The first one we want to do is go to some of the major credit reporting sites. The first one people might be familiar with is equifax.com. Now, at this site, once you're there, it looks like there is some links that you can go to. There is also a place you can you go to in order to subscribe or pay for a service that allows you to check your credit report.
Now when I spoke to the FTC, they did say, you are going to be providing your credit information and your Social Security number in order for them to give you your credit report, but they do it in a secure manner, and that's crucial. Whenever you're doing any transaction online that the transaction is secure. It's encrypted so the information that's going back and forth is being protected in some way.
From there, we'll take peel about experian.com. This is another one of the major credit reporting agencies. Similar, you can see up at the top here, it actually includes information about other countries, other places around the world. If you are interested in your credit report, you do live somewhere else, you can get information there as well.
Finally, there is transunion.com. They're all sort of similar in a sense. You do have to pay for it. There are different payment plans, depending on how much information you want to get, how often you want to get the information, and whether you want to get it from all the credit unions or reporting agencies, or just the one. So the prices do range. ' And so we should point out also, there are other ways to contact these credit reporting agencies. They have some phone numbers. These are toll-free numbers, and we have a list of them from Equifax to Experian to Transunion, and those numbers you can see up on the screen now. Those are the three different numbers you can call. Aside from going to their Web sites, and you see the number's there.
Now, there are also some tips that we can give people when you're surfing online and you want to be buying things. You always want to use trusted and well-known sites, names that you're familiar with. If you're not familiar with it, if it seems like it's a little bit sketchy or you're not certain where it's from, then don't use it, and avoid also -- when you're creating a password, avoid obvious information. You don't want to use your own name or a maiden name, or something that people could obviously determine about you.
You want to be weary of unsolicited e-mail scams. If you're getting e-mail, you don't know the source of it in some way, you don't want to reply back to it, and you never want to send information back that's sensitive, like your credit card information, or Social Security number.
Also, you just want to close your Web browser once you've finished all of your online transactions, close your Web browser, make sure no one can see it if they come by your desk, for example, and that it's just removed from the system, that it's no longer up on your computer.
Those are just some of the tips people may want to check into. The Federal Trade Commission has got its own Web site as well. You can go to ftc.gov, and find more tips from there.
But you know, in talking with all sorts of different people about this, they say, with hard material information , if it's on paper or some other document like that, you know, Carol, the best thing you can possibly do is put it into a shredder like that, and there's no trace it have anymore. That's if you're dealing with hard material rather than online.
LIN: We use ours for kindling in the wintertime.
Hey, Daniel, quick question for you, you said in going on to these sites, make sure that they have extra security or encryption, because you do have to give some of your personal information just to even get your credit report. What do you look for on the Web site to know whether it is a secure site?
SIEBERG: Good point. Now the easiest thing to look for is at the top where you see the actual address of where you are surfing. It often says "http." If you've go to a secure site, it will say "https," and there will also be often in the lower right corner of your browser, you'll see a little lock, that looks like a little padlock, and that means that where you are now is secure, it's got an encrypted type of program that's running while you're putting your information online. If you don't see that, you should be very cautious. Contact the site where you're surfing and see if they've got some sort of encryption they're using. But most retail sites online have some sort of encryption, have that way. It's automatic.
LIN: So what does that mean when it's encrypted? Does it mean that somebody from the outside can't access, or what about people who actually work for that company who might be selling information for personal gain?
SIEBERG: Well, it should mean that nobody can access that information, that it's going from one person to another, and that the only people who can see it are the people who can see it are the people who need to see it.
Now if there's an inside job and there is someone who is inside a company and could access that information, then there's that possibility, but it is designed mainly to keep someone from the outside from looking in. So a hacker or somebody who could try and get into that transmission of data. It's stopping them from getting access to that information, and that's the least that you want to do. But you never can be too cautious when you're talking about your personal information, and if you're buying something online, you always have to be careful.
LIN: You bet. Thanks, Daniel.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
