College students have enough to juggle when it comes to school, work and their social life and fighting fraud often doesn’t make the list of priorities. Because college students are so susceptible to identity theft, Better Business Bureau recommends that they take seven simple steps to protect themselves on campus.

According to the 2010 Identity Fraud Survey Report released by Javelin Strategy and Research, more than 11 million people became victims of identity theft in 2009. Young adults aged 18-24 took the longest to detect identity theft—132 days on average—when compared to other age groups. Subsequently the average cost ($1,156) was roughly five times more than amount lost by other age groups.

“Identity thieves don’t care if you’re a struggling student and don’t have a penny to your name; sometimes all they want is to exploit your clean credit record,” said Kim States, BBB President. “Young adults that establish good habits for monitoring and detecting fraud are laying a path that will help create a healthy financial road for the rest of their lives.”

BBB recommends that college-bound students take the following seven steps to fight identity theft on campus:

• School mailboxes are not always secure and can often be easily accessed in a dorm or apartment. (more…)

Spring break is fast approaching for UofA students, and for many of them that means a sunny vacation and  increased use his or her debit or credit card. However, scammers often see spring break as an  opportunity to swindle students out of their spending cash, leaving them with empty bank accounts, and phoning mom and dad to bail them out.

Most of the time, consumers are aware of debit card and credit card fraud after it happens. They get a call stating the credit card has been compromised and you do not have a clue why it happened. We want to encourage consumers to be vigilant against fraud.”

To protect yourself against debit and credit card frauds, Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona would like to offer the following advice this holiday season:

If you are shopping at a retailer in-person…

Think twice about your habits. Often we see convenience as the key factor in why we use debit and credit card for purchase. However, you may want to consider only using ATMs at bank branches, not at convenience stores or delis, since bank security cameras can offer evidence that fraudulent withdrawals with your debit card were not made by you.

Protect your PIN. Use your hand or body to shield your PIN when you are making transactions at a bank machine or a point-of-sale terminal. Cover as much as possible since scammers use cameras to capture PIN codes.

Look for signs of a tampered PIN pad. Check if the PIN pad has been tampered with before handing over your debit card. Look for the absence of a serial number, raised screws on the back, broken seals or signs of wear on the bottom panel could indicate the pad has been doctored.

Keep an eye on your card. Never let your credit or debit card out of your sight when you make a transaction.

Check your statements. Check your bank and credit card statement often, daily if possible, for any illegal activity. Call the card provider or institution at once if you are suspicious about anything in your (more…)