Campuses prone to ID theft

Identity theft is a rampant problem that has become the fastest-growing financial crime in the country, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The N.C. Department of Justice Web site states that about 286,000 North Carolinians are victims of identity theft each year, and victims typically spend an average of $800 and 175 hours over a 23-month period to clean up their credit and erase $18,000 in fraudulent charges.

During the last two months, there have been 12 break-ins in professional offices, some resulting in hard-drive theft, that could enable identity thieves, according to The Chapel Hill News. Padgett Business Services is the latest victim to report a missing hard drive containing Social Security numbers.

For college students, their casual practices with privacy and money matters make them perfect targets for identity theft, according to the California-based Identity Theft Resource Center.

The rate of instances on college campuses surpassed the 80 percent increase experienced by the total public from 2002 to 2003.

"College students tend to be tunnel-visioned," says Linda Foley, co-executive director of the ITRC.

Many universities use Social Security numbers as student identification numbers and grades or class lists often are posted by these numbers, making students easy access for anyone wishing to steal an identity.

Jay Foley, co-executive director at ITRC, students also are more willing to fill out a credit card application at a football game, where the application could easily be stolen or bought.

"Unless students have astute parents, they typically don't understand credit," he said.

Jay Foley said additional preventative measures can be taken at college campuses.

"Every dorm should have, per student, a safe or locking device to hold stuff that could cause great havoc," he said. "You have no clue what your roommate is doing in your room when you're not there. You need the ability to protect your valuable information and your laptop."

Sgt. Robert Carden, who works with investigations at the Chapel Hill Police Department, said he knows a lot of students who have had their identities stolen.

"People will take mail out of mail boxes and use that information to apply for credit cards," Carden said. "Grind up all your mail."

Carden said typical identity theft cases involve laptops or company desktops being stolen. "People can download hard drives filled with personal information and sell that information two or three different times," he said.

Identity theft is sometimes difficult to prosecute because it can be done online and across state jurisdiction boundaries.

"Is a person going to fly out to California to testify against a person? Probably not," Carden said.

The ITRC currently is working on legislation to protect consumers.

"We need better communication between credit industries and government industries," Linda Foley said. "We are already talking to a couple senators about legislation."

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.