HOUSTON – Aaron Cooks checks in with the postal carrier each day in hopes he gets a new bank card.
“I ask [the carrier] all the time, ‘where’s my mail and has it went anywhere?’ None of my cards are showing up,” Cooks said. “I have asked her if she’s seen any cards that come to my mailbox, she says that she hasn’t. Anything banks related has never come.”
Cooks said his identity was stolen after someone broke into his home, took pages of documents and his cellphone. Equipped with his phone, it allowed the person to gain access to his banking information and all his passwords.
“My credit is being messed up behind this and this person has benefited and living under my name illegally,” Cooks said. “That’s really tarnished me.”
The Houston Police Department is investigating the burglary. A spokesperson said the case will go to the property and financial division then an investigator will reach out to Cooks to get a statement and conduct additional follow ups.
The CEO of nonprofit organization Identity Theft Resource Center, Eva Valesquez, said it is likely all our data has been compromised at least once.
“There’s no question with the state of data compromises in this country. Your data has been compromised at least once,” Valesquez said. “You can do everything right and still become the victim of a crime.”
Valesquez said while it may seem nerve wracking, she shared there are ways to reduce risk of identity theft:
- If you get a letter from a bank, open it.
- “Take a look at them because it could actually be a financial institution trying to get in touch with you and verify, hey, did you try to open this account, this deposit account or this credit card? And was that you? And that’s a way that you can actually stop it in its tracks,” Valesquez said. “And the same thing with things, from your medical, your insurance provider or your medical facility.”
- You may not need all of those documents.
- “Only keep what you truly need,” she said. “But keeping decades worth of this sensitive information in a place that really is less than secure is kind of a recipe for disaster. So only keep what you truly need. And when you’ve determined you truly need these things, make sure they are in a secure location.”
- Speaking of storage, be mindful of where you leave documents.
- “If you wouldn’t put cash, if you wouldn’t put a box full of cash in this place where you’re storing this sensitive data, that can be your litmus test. Because, frankly, your data is just as valuable as your cash,” Valesquez said.
She shared keeping documents like social security cards or birth certificates at a safety security box in a bank isn’t warranted.
“You can store those paper documents in your home in a secure location. Do you need a fire safe if that’s something that you have? Great. Put it in a safe. You don’t have that? Please put it in a locked drawer or filing cabinet. It’s really about just trying to up your game a little bit and again, not keeping it in places where you’re actually elevating your risk,” she said.
These are some of the things Cooks has implemented himself.
“Shut things down,” Cook said. “Make sure you lock things up so you can make sure no one else can get to those things but yourself.”
He’s also working to freeze his credit.