Kander Issues Investor Alert Urging Missouri Students to Take Steps to Protect their Identities Online

Jefferson City, Mo. — Secretary of State Jason Kander today issued an Investor Alert for college students starting the new academic year, encouraging them to use six simple tips to protect themselves from online identity theft.

“It’s a sad reality that there are scam artists who target college students through online scams. With thousands of Missouri students returning to campus, many of them freshmen, scammers will often try and take advantage of a young person’s new-found independence through online identity theft schemes,” Kander said. “My office’s six simple tips can help you protect yourself from fraud, and prevent months, and even years, of stress. Protecting yourself from fraud is the first step in a healthy financial future.”

Kander’s office urges Missouri students to follow these six simple tips:

• Protect your passwords. Create passwords for your computer, tablets and mobile devices unlike those associated with your bank, email or social networking accounts. Never save your password on financial institutions or credit card company websites and avoid using your name or other easily identifiable words or phrases for access to your accounts.
• Don’t email sensitive information. Never send your credit or debit card or your Social Security Number over email. Instead, use the company website to confirm they’re using a verified and secure means for transacting business online.
• Reveal only necessary information. When creating an online account, user name or registration, complete only the fields marked as required (typically designated by an asterisk*).  This will generally help reduce the amount of personal information within your profile which could be shared. Read your account disclosure information and privacy policies closely to determine the level of security of your private information.
• Check the website security. Be sure to verify that “https://” (not just “http://”) is in the browser’s address bar for the site you are viewing. All legitimate financial institutions and retail establishments use this security feature to protect their customer data.
• Monitor credit reports annually. Use the security features available from your bank or financial institution to alert you to potentially fraudulent charges and request free copies of your annual credit report to ensure no accounts have been opened in your name without your authorization.  Under federal law, you are entitled to three free credit reports annually which can be obtained through www.annualcreditreport.com.
• Report suspicious transactions immediately. If you have any concern or suspect fraudulent activity in your account, call your bank, financial institution and the Secretary of State’s Investor Protection Hotline (1-800-721-7996).

For more information, visit www.MissouriSafeSavings.com or call 1-800-721-7996.