HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — National Consumer Protection Week kicks off on Sunday.
“During consumer protection week, one of the big things we want people to be aware of is the possibility for identity theft that goes on regularly. Even children can have their identity stolen. So this is a time where we want to educate people about that,” said Eric Olsen, manager of Consumer Protection Services for Hillsborough County.
There are different types of scams that can steal your identity, including:
- Tax identity theft
- Criminal identity theft
- Credit identity theft
- Medical identity theft
That’s why it’s important to know how to identify a scam and when someone is trying to take advantage of you.
“They try to push something, some sort of messaging at you which raises a concern. Or makes you anxious or makes you excitable,” said Abhishek Karnik, head of Threat Research and Intelligence for McAfee.
Being proactive is key to protecting yourself and that includes limiting how much personal information you share.
“How does that information about you get to them, right? Have you put your phone number somewhere? Have you made your online profile very accessible to unknown people?” said Karnik.
Experts also encourage you to regularly check your credit report.
“Annualcreditreport.com, that’s a free location to check your credit reports. That way you can stay on top of what’s going on. If someone opens up an account and you don’t know about it, if someone tries to take out a line of credit in your name and you don’t know about it, that’s where you can get harmed,” said Olsen.
Another way to be proactive against identity theft is to safely get rid of sensitive documents and electronics with your personal data.
That’s why Hillsborough County is hosting its 9th annual ShredFest to kick off Consumer Protection Week.
- Saturday, March 1
- 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
- Veterans Memorial Park, 3602 U.S. Hwy. 301 N. Tampa
- On-site document shredding will be limited to three copy-paper-size boxes or kitchen-sized bags per vehicle (white or clear bags are preferred)
- Three-ring binders and trash must be removed from containers of paper materials
- They’re also offering “e-shredding” where you can safely dispose of old electronics like tablets, cell phones, hard drives, and computers
- All batteries and electronic cords must be removed from electronics
“We do the shredding event to shred and destroy old information that could be used by identity thieves in paper form. Also, we have electronic shredding as well, because there’s a lot of digital information that could be used out there as well," said Olsen.
