Out of all things to have stolen, your identity may be the most unfortunate.

It can happen in a variety of ways — maybe you tossed a credit card application in the trash can, deeming it to be junk mail not worth keeping, and someone dug through the trash and found just what they were looking for.

Or maybe you were “phished” when someone sent you a seemingly legitimate e-mail requesting you re-set your online banking password and you did so, unknowingly providing a thief with access to your account.

Unsuspected thievesRegardless of the tactic used, according to Pam Gerace, director of Student Legal Services, it’s the nature of the perpetrators that people don’t always expect.

“We have family members that do it quite a bit,” she said. “We have actual family members that will pretend they are someone else. … Those are some of the harder cases that we have.”

Gerace said she is working on a case in which a student’s identity has been stolen by his cousin, after the thief had previously stolen his own brother’s identity.

She said it’s easier for family members to commit this type of crime for various reasons — among them, the easy access to the victim’s Social Security number and other information, as well as the low likelihood that his or her relative would press charges against them once caught.

“It’s mothers and fathers a lot of times,” Gerace said. “When their credit gets bad, they’ll start using their child’s.”

And it could be years before the child notices — maybe not until they are denied a purchase due to a bad credit score they didn’t know they had accumulated.

Gerace said keeping personal information such as one’s Social Security number private, even from family members, is a precaution worth taking.

Roommates, also, are sometimes perpetrators of identity theft, according to Gerace.

Locking one’s room can prevent theft, but is ineffective if a roommate rifles through one’s desk to find personal information.

Gerace remembers a case in which a student and her mother, along with the student’s new roommate, went to the bank to open an account.

As the student filled out a form to do so, the roommate looked over her shoulder and used the information she saw to steal her identity.

Being conscientious to prevent identity theftIn many cases, students lack caution when maintaining the privacy of their information, Gerace said. Leaving identification cards in an accessible place without locking a residence hall room – even just to walk down the hall — can be a risk, as a thief can write down the information without noticeably stealing something.

And even filling out credit card applications for freebies can be risky, according to Gerace.

“We have a lot of students who don’t think about it and just fill that stuff out,” she said. “I don’t know what happens to those applications, but we have had problems with people who filled those out and someone got the card and used it.”

To safely apply for a card, Gerace suggests a closed setting.

Other precautions include saving all receipts and making sure they match up to credit or debit card statements, as well as only using secure Web sites when making online purchases.

What to do if your identity is stolenUnlike property theft, identity theft is something that can go unnoticed for a long period of time.

Gerace said it is common for a thief to use someone’s credit and pay for the charges in a timely manner.

“If you’ve got somebody who knows what they’re doing, you won’t know it for about a year after it’s happened,” she said.

Then, after flying under the radar, the thief will probably max out the credit card and disappear. And Gerace said that’s when creditors come in search of the person whose identity has been stolen.

If students find themselves in this situation and report it to the police, Gerace said they should take one of two steps to prevent further theft: they can either put a freeze on their credit so no one may use it, or they can use a fraud alert. It is very important, Gerace said, to go through all charges with a fine-toothed comb and to alert every creditor of the problem.

In the case that someone has stolen another person’s Social Security number, Gerace said it is possible to be issued a new one — but it isn’t easy.

“It can be a difficult process,” she said. “That’s a very last, last resort.”

Gerace said there was one case in which she attempted to help a client go through the process, but found it extremely cumbersome to obtain an appointment for a hearing with the Social Security office.

But even after taking these steps to correct the problem, Gerace said it is likely that the identity thief will use stolen information after an extended period of time, when the victim’s guard may be down.

Constant monitoring of one’s credit score and report can help to prevent an unexpected attack.

Hitting close to home

Consumer matters make up 25 percent of cases in the Student Legal Services office.

100 to 150 students come to the office with credit problems each year.

Of those, 10 to 15 have experienced a form of identity theft.

Source: Pam Gerace, director, Student Legal Services