Protecting Yourself Against Fraud

Russ Wiles, Arizona Republic  Sun, June 11, 2023

Protecting Yourself Against Fraud, scams and identity theft is hard. These tips can help

Criminals aren't taking time off for the summer, and neither should you when it comes to protecting financial accounts. Keeping your guard up against fraud, scams and identity theft is a full-time pursuit.

The threats extend from divulging too much personal information to having your tax refund stolen. Here are some of the problems and some tips that can help:

Few good reasons to reveal your Social Security number

If a gym asked for your email password to sign you up for a membership, you likely would decline. But if the company asked for your Social Security number, you might provide it.

“From gym memberships to job applications, we treat this nine-digit number as a standard piece of information to hand out willingly,” said Raj Ananthanpillai, founder and CEO of Trua, an identification screening and verification company. “The odds are that you are trusting too many people with it.”

Ananthanpillai argues that consumers should divulge Social Security numbers much more carefully, partly because they can end up in data breaches. You should use your number only for purposes directly related to employment income, reporting/paying taxes and opening bank and other financial accounts, he said.

“For literally everyone else, I want you to ask them what the purpose is, ask them whom they will share it with (and) ask them how long it will be stored on their servers.”

Ananthanpillai’s company, Trua, collects vital information from customers, stores it and confirms identities when needed without revealing the underlying information. He acknowledges that it isn't always easy to decline requests for a Social Security number, but he suggests first asking if you can provide other, less-sensitive identifiers.

 “I’m not promising you that you will be able to avoid sharing your SSN, nor am I promising you that you will make a ton of friends in this process, but you will become a better advocate for yourself,” he said in a statement.

Even the threat of fraud can delay your tax refund

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https://www.yahoo.com/news/protecting-yourself-against-fraud-scams-143026432.html