The U.S. Department of Education, Office of the Inspector General, has outlined tips for college students to protect themselves from identity theft. The report cautions, "as a student, you may even be more vulnerable to identity theft because of the availability of your personal data and the way many students handle this data." Listed as some of the main pitfalls are:
- Almost half of all college students receive credit card applications on a daily or weekly basis. Many of these students throw out card applications without destroying them.
- Nearly a third of students rarely, if ever, reconcile their credit card and checking account balances.
- Almost 50 percent of students have had grades posted by Social Security number.
The problem isn't the student's failure to monitor their balances. The problem is allowing credit card companies to send out unsolicited applications and allowing universities to use the student's SSN for identification. Don't blame the victim - fix the problem.
Of course, malware is also a significant contributor to identity theft today. Make sure your student is armed with antivirus software (Mac / Windows) before they head off to campus.