Sign-in Register Scams

The Scam
Some companies but mostly school or government agencies may ask you to sign in when you enter their building or department with your name and SSN. Identity thieves love to frequent these places. They commit identity theft simply by signing in at the end of the page and copying down the names and SSN numbers from the people who signed in before them. With recent media coverage on identity theft and privacy of information issues, these are becoming less common but are still out there.

Even if your SSN is not being temporarily displayed publicly, identity theft can still occur in places that require you to fill in a form that requires your name and SSN. All an identity thief has to do is sit down beside you and look over your shoulder as you are filling in the form.

The Solution
Prevention is the key to this type of identity theft scam. Do not fill in your SSN number on any document that may be exposed publicly. Instead, write a note that will say that you will give it to them privately. Don't put in a fake number as it may be real and you might inadvertently hurt their credit. If you are filling in a form in a public area, you can easily thwart an identity theft in progress by simply making sure it is not visible to anyone else just as you would when punching in your PIN number at a bank machine.

In this type of identity theft scam, they cannot get your personal information if you are careful enough not to give it to them.

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