how not to be a victim - Identity theft

the-five-easiest-ways-to-get-your-identity-stolen - gizmodo

The lab we go to requires SS# for ID,no SS,no labs. Dyslexic me managed to transpose a number on their form,ooops.

One of the worst things I see people (and pardon me, usually ladies, but guys do it to) is to have an "organizer" that has nice places for your checkbook, cash, credit cards, drivers licence and so on. Usually (per the article) in there somewhere is the social security card or at least the number. Lose this, and all in one easy package is everything necessary for someone to take over your identity, drain you checking account and max out your credit cards.

Guys do the same thing, except instead of the check book, they carry a blank check in their wallet. Routing numbers and account numbers for the checking account are on the check.

My advice, try to carry at least some of these things separately.

The US military has gone from using your SSN as ID to using a serial number (again). When DW gets her new ID card I'll have to get one also to reflect the new number. Hers will be my number with the ending -01.

other tips -

Never carry your SS card with you.
Think about using RF blocking sleeves to carry the cards you do carry.
Don't carry all 13 credit cards the average household has (we have 2, more than enough as they are both paid off monthly).
Never leave your purse in the shopping cart unattended. Carry it, preferably cross slung - right shoulder/left hip.
Go through your purse/wallet. If you haven't used it in 6 months, dump it. The item, not the purse/wallet.
Carry a card with your phone numbers in your purse/wallet. A good Samaritan can call you and arrange a return. And make that return at a police station - ya never know.

None of my cards have RFID tags. I don't feel great about the RF blocking sleeves that are out there -- there are ones that don't work very well, and others that are bulky. If I were trying to intercept RFID data I'd just set up somewhere near where people have to take them out of the sleeves to use them. They can be read from at least 70 feet away with off-the-shelf technology.

I would suggest that if you do carry any cards with RFID tags, consider giving the RFID chip a couple of good hard whacks with a hammer, if it's legal for you to do so.

Does anyone have a link to any stories about a confirmed case of identity theft using RFID? Or some known identity thief arrested with RFID equipment? I'm still not convinced that RFID is an issue for most people, even with a wallet full of RFID-enabled cards.

I just bought my first new wallet in like 10 tens (or maybe longer). It's one of those stainless steel fabric wallets. They look cool and I wanted to try one out. Although not a reason for buying it, I liked that it advertised that it is RFID blocking.

However, one thing that I learned to my surprise is that not all "touchless" technologies are the same. When I first got my wallet, the only thing I could easily test was the card key for my office suite. To my chagrin, my wallet did not block that signal when I waved it near the door sensor. But I went back to the wallet manufacturer's website and in the FAQ, it did mention that there are technologies used for things other than credit cards and ID cards that use a different system and are not blocked. I guess my card key is an example of that.

I later tried my bus pass on the way home and the wallet does effectively block that signal.

RFID credit cards are common in Europe but not so much in the USA from what I read. RFID is not supposed to contain the CVV code or even necessarily the customer's name, which should make it harder to use them for fraudulent transactions.

I was unable to find any verified RFID-skimming attacks in the wild against credit cards. There have been RFID-skimming attacks against proximity cards for entry into office buildings.

RFID as a technology is not, in my professional opinion, appropriate for sensitive data.