Beware Identity Theft

Written By Stephanie Granados

When you are watching TV and identity theft commercials come on, do you press mute, change the channel or just roll your eyes and suffer through it thinking, “That will never happen to me?”

Or, are you one of the growing numbers of people who have had their identity stolen or knows someone who has had their identity stolen?

Last week I attended a meeting where Sgt. Ronnie Harlowe of the Houston County Sheriff’s Office spoke about identity theft. Sgt. Harlowe has been with the department for 19 years. Both the FBI and CIA have trained him in this matter.

We were told how the thieves obtain your information, what they do with it, how to minimize your risk and what to do if you suspect your identity has been stolen.

I never really gave identity theft a second thought. I never had a mailbox for my house only, so I never considered that checks could be stolen, washed and rewritten.

I never put much faith in others — it comes with hearing about the ins and outs of the criminal justice system your whole life — but even I never thought my waiter would, much less could, swipe my credit card on a portable card reader and steal my information. Apparently this happens more often than we would like to think.

All in all, I found Sgt. Harlowe’s presentation to be very informative. The demonstrations also really helped me understand just how easy it is to steal someone’s personal information. For instance, he showed us credit cards that appeared to be real, but the magnetic strip on the back held different account information.

I am not only grateful for the information but also for the fact that police officers do care about the community they serve, and they can be extremely helpful.

Stephanie Granados graduated from the University of Texas-San Antonio in December. Six months later she was on her way to Georgia to join her fiance who had taken a job with Frito-Lay. E-mail her at stephaniegranados@gmail.com.

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