College students big targets for cyberthieves

Recently the Federal Trade Commission through its Consumer Sentinel Network issued its Data Book for last year dealing with fraud and identity theft. It found that identity theft was again the subject of the most complaints of any fraud or scam. Also recently, Javelin Strategy & Research issued its annual report about identity theft and found that identity thieves stole $16 billion from Americans last year. Both reports provide some insight into this crime and who is most vulnerable.

Both the Consumer Sentinel Network and the Javelin Strategy & Research study found young people of college age to be victims of identity theft at alarming rates with Javelin's research also indicating that once their personal information had been compromised, it took students twice as long to remedy the problem once it was discovered.

College students may present the perfect storm for identity theft. They are vulnerable on their computers, smartphones and tablets. They are vulnerable in their dorm rooms. They are vulnerable through their mail and personal papers and they are vulnerable on the myriad of social media they use.

Dorm rooms are often wide open and available to many people. Checkbooks, credit card statements and other documents with personal information that can lead to identity theft are often not locked safely away, but merely kept in a desk drawer, making them an easy target for identity thieves. Some things that college students should be doing include:

1. Storing important papers in secure locked containers kept out of sight;
2. Shred unneeded documents containing personal information rather than merely tossing them in a wastebasket.
3. Have important mail sent to their home address, which is generally more secure.

College students are major users of smartphones. Take a look at any college campus between classes and you will see their smartphones pressed to their ears as they walk to their next class. College students live their lives on their smartphones with apps for everything, but too many of them fail to take the necessary security to protect the data on their smartphones. Everyone, including college students should take the following steps:

1. Use a strong password to secure the phone;
2. Set it up to lock automatically when not in use for 15 minutes for protection if the smartphone is lost or stolen;
3. Install the latest anti-malware and anti-virus software and keep the software updated with the latest security patches;
4. Only download apps from legitimate sources, such as the Apple App store or the Google Play Store. Many free apps from questionable sources come riddled with malware; students often download free music and games that may have malware;
5. Use encryption software to protect the information stored on your smartphone;
6. Turn off Bluetooth and NFC when not using them to prevent surreptitious access to the device.
7. Don't click on links in text messages or download attachments unless it has been independently confirmed that it is legitimate. Scammers will send text messages with keystroke logging malware that you will steal all personal information from smartphones or other electronic device if an unwary victim clicks on the link or download the tainted attachment.

College students are avid users of social media and many do so without taking the necessary precautions to protect themselves from identity theft. College students should take these steps to enhance their security:

1. Adjust the privacy settings on their social media sites in order to make it more difficult for people they don't know to view information or post material on their page.
2. Understand the privacy policies of the social networking sties used and with whom they share information.
3. Trust me, you can't trust anyone. Just as you shouldn't click on links or download attachments from text messages so should you avoid doing so in response to messages that you receive through social media. Even if it appears that the message comes from someone you know and trust, their account may have been hijacked.

Particularly be wary of links that promise to take you to enticing photos, such as those of celebrities. Each year computer software security company McAfee publishes a list of the top 10 celebrities who are the riskiest to search for online. When you look online for pictures or gossip about these people, you are most at risk of downloading malware. In 2014 this list was headed by comedian Jimmy Kimmel. McAfee found that almost 20% of online searches for Kimmel resulted in malware. The rest of the list in order is Armin van Buuren, Ciara, Flo Rida, Bruce Springsteen, Blake Shelton, Britney Spears, Jon Bon Jovi, Chelsea Handler and Christina Aguilera.

Although these tips are aimed specifically at college students, by and large, they apply to all of us to help avoid identity theft.

Weisman is a lawyer, a professor at Bentley University and one of the country's leading experts in scams and identity theft. He writes the blog scamicide.com, where he provides daily update information about the latest scams. His new book is Identity Theft Alert.