1. My least-favorite credit card? American Express, because it likes to ask me for your zip code.
2. Your unlocked mailbox is a gold mine. I can steal your account numbers, use the convenience checks that come with your credit card statement, and send in pre-approved credit offers to get a card in your name. Stealing mail is easy. Sometimes, I act like I’m delivering flyers. Other times, I just stand there and riffle through it. If I don’t look suspicious, your neighbors just think I’m a friend picking up your mail.
3. Even with all the new technology, most of us still steal your information the old-fashioned way: by swiping your wallet or purse, going through your mail, or Dumpster diving.
4. I dig through Dumpsters in broad daylight. If anyone asks (and no one does), I just say my girlfriend lost her ring, or that I may have thrown my keys away by mistake.
© Ryan McVay/Photodisc/Thinkstock 6. Is your Social Security number on your driver’s license or your checks, or is it your account number for your health insurance? Dumb move.
7. When I send out e-mails “phishing” for personal information by posing as a bank or online merchant, I often target AOL customers. They just seem less computer literate—and more likely (I hope) to fall for my schemes.
8. I never use my home computer to buy something with a credit card that’s not mine. That’s why you can often find me at the public library.
9. If you use the same ATM every time, you’re a lot more likely to notice if something changes on the machine, like the skimmer I installed.
10. Sometimes I pose as a salesman and go into a small office. After I make my pitch, I ask the secretary to make me a copy. Since most women leave their purses on the floor by their chairs, as soon as they leave the room, I grab their wallet. I also check the top and bottom right-hand drawers of their desks, where I often find company checks.
11. How much is your information worth? I can buy stolen account information—your name, address, credit card number, and more—for $10 to $50 per account from hackers who advertise on more than a dozen black market web sites.
12. Hey, thanks for writing your PIN number on that little slip of paper in your wallet. I feel like I just won the lottery.
13. Sure, it may be nice not to have to put in your password when you use an unsecured Wi-Fi connection. But know this: We have software that can scoop up all the data your computer transmits, including your passwords and other sensitive information.
PLUS: 13 Things An Identity Thief Won’t Tell You
Sources: Former identity thieves in Kentucky, Florida, Indiana, Virginia, and New York.
