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Protect Your Identity

Phishers and other online thieves are targeting your money and personal data--and they're getting sneakier. Here's how to defend yourself, and how to erase the damage if you get scammed.

Bob Tedeschi

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Illustration: Stuart Bradford
Barbara Head, a stay-at-home mother of three in Mocksville, North Carolina, was checking her e-mail and saw a notice from AOL saying she needed to update her account information. It looked legit, so she followed the link. But she ended up handing her personal and financial information to a phishing scammer, who then assumed her identity and rang up hundreds of dollars in charges with her PayPal account, which was linked to her credit union checking account. Among other things, the criminal set up a fake business using her initials (B&H Enterprise) to conduct transactions in her name. That action, though not common, lent credibility to the thief.

Head discovered the fraudulent activity after receiving overdraft notices from the credit union, and spent countless hours over six months clearing her name and credit history. The only positive note: She caught the thief that got her.

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