Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
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Deanie Wimmer ReportingYou've heard the warnings about identity theft, and you probably think your guard is up to avoid letting someone steal your private information. Well, don't get too comfortable.
We're told to guard our passwords, social security and account numbers, but government research shows we're not as safe or smart about security as we would like to think. Here are some examples that might encourage more of us to Stay Safe.
Chad Nicholls has a place to look if he forgets PINs or passwords.
Chad Nicholls: "I've written them down on little cards and put them in the back of my wallet."
He's not alone, the Federal Trade Commission estimates 30-percent of people do the same thing, even write them on the back of the ATM card..
Ever shared your password with a colleague?
"I've shared it with other people and they've shared it with me sometimes."
Forty-percent of people know their colleague's passwords, according to another survey. And 70-percent of people are willing to share their name or account number in an unsolicited call or email.
A big part of the problem is phishing, not with a line, but online. Email scams are disguised to appear they're from your bank or other accounts. They try to trick you into giving out information.
It's not always that easy to spot a scam. To prove it, we went to the University of Utah and gave a test to some students in IT."
We showed several email examples to computer-savvy students. Some were real, some were fakes, and even they had trouble telling the difference.
Shawn Farnworth, Student: "I would probably check it out to see if it's legit."
Marci Clawson, Student: "Hard to know, some of them I thought were legitimate and they weren't. And some I thought were frauds and they were legitimate."
Mike Selander, Student: "I said fraud on all of them because I feel better that way. I don't feel like there's a choice whether it's right or wrong."
On most examples, half the students guessed wrong which were fakes. And government figures show half of all victims of identity fraud run into problems because of these kinds of phishing emails. If thieves can fool these trained students, what does that say for the rest of us?
Jeff Hassett, School of Accounting and Information Systems: "Seeing 50/50 splits shows not how susceptible we are, but how good they're getting, and that it's difficult to tell one from the other."
To Stay safe, here are things to look for to determine if the email is real.
- First, is the email addressed to you, or a more general "account user."
- Never click on a link in an email unless you're expecting the email.
- Don't access accounts by clicking on an email link, go to their official website.
If you want to test your phishing savvy, you can take the same test we gave the U. students by following the links at the top, right of this story.
