Students At Risk For Identity Theft

MIAMI, FL, May 17, 2012 (Press-News.org) Being a college student can open up a world of possibilities, but unfortunately it can also open young adults up to becoming victims of identity theft. Thousands of students have been affected by security breaches at colleges and universities that exposed their personally identifiable data on the Internet. Students have been advised to avail themselves of credit monitoring services for identity theft protection to prevent their personal data from being misused.

There have been several incidents just in the first few months of 2012 in which universities have inadvertently exposed the personal data of their students to public review. Human error has largely been the cause, as in the case where a file was accidentally posted on a public server rather than as an internal file. Thousands of students have had sensitive information like their names, addresses, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and even bank account numbers revealed to potential identity thieves due to a mistake made by their college. Institutions of higher learning are also not invulnerable to computer viruses that expose personally identifiable data of their students. In the wake of the data breaches, the colleges have stepped up and offered identity theft protection services to the students who were affected.

In addition to data breaches at the institutional level, college students may be vulnerable to identity theft from other sources. Students are often targeted by banks sending out credit card offers to attract new customers. If the unused offers are not disposed of properly, someone else might just decide to sign up for the credit card under the student's name. Students also need to remember to take precautions to protect their passwords, PINs, social networking accounts, and the like. They are cautioned not to share passwords with roommates or good friends, and to consider protecting themselves with credit monitoring services to reduce the threat of identity theft.

College students are not likely to spend much time thinking about the risk of identity theft and the damage it could do to their credit rating. After graduation, however, a student may discover that their good name has been stolen to open fraudulent credit cards and used in other ways that can affect their credit rating. Unfortunately, if they do not use credit monitoring services for identity theft protection, students may be unaware that their identity has been stolen until they try to get a job, rent an apartment, buy a car, or apply for a new credit card. At that point, the damage is done, and it can be a hugely laborious and costly process to clear up a case of identity theft. Students are advised to be proactive about protecting their good name with credit monitoring services so they graduate from college with their good name and credit intact.

For more information on the best credit monitoring services and identity theft protection, visit http://www.creditprotectionpro.com. They are a service dedicated to helping to prevent identity theft and credit fraud. Credit Protection Pro has information on all the latest identity theft scams and alerts on their website so that consumers can learn how to protect themselves. In addition, they offer independent professional reviews of credit monitoring services like Identity Guard. Contact Credit Protection Pro at info@creditprotectionpro.com for more information on how to protect your credit score and identity.

Dean Richards
Credit Protection Pro
Miami, FL
800-769-2104
info@creditprotectionpro.com
http://www.creditprotectionpro.com/