By Lori EhdeLuverne banking officials are seeing a sharp rise in local victims of identity fraud, and they’re warning area residents to be cautious.First Farmers and Merchants Bank is seeing an average of one new victim per week in the past month."We just had three to four new victims, all with different scenarios, all with different types of identity fraud," said LaDonna Van Aartsen, cashier and operations officer."It makes their lives a living nightmare for well over a year to get it cleaned up."Nationally, the number of reported e-mail fraud cases, referred to as "phishing," jumped 180 percent in the past month."This happens right here in Rock County and Luverne," Van Aartsen said. "We’re not out to scare people, but we want them to be smart consumers."Carla Ennenga, senior operations officer at Minnwest Bank, said she’s also seeing local fraud victims. "It’s just something I think we’ll see filter down to smaller communities," she said. "It’s scary. Customers should never give their information out."Both banks are taking steps to educate their clients, through brochures and on-line notices. Minnwest two years ago even sponsored an identity theft workshop in Luverne.But they admit it’s hard to stay ahead of the problem. "The smarter we get, the smarter the crooks get," Van Aartsen said. For example, she said one of First Farmer’s customers told of an e-mail she received asking for information to confirm an E-Bay purchase."The e-mail looked very legitimate, and it so happened this customer was a regular E-Bay shopper," Van Aartsen said."The e-mail said, ‘we want to make sure we have your correct information … name, address, social security, bank account numbers … and within two hours a card had been produced on their account and was being used in Romania."With just a few key pieces of information in the wrong hands, people can lose all their financial assets. "Never give that information out when they’re asking for it that way," Van Aartsen said. "You need to be the one to initiate that kind of information."Further, financial institutions are liable for the losses, so it’s important that fraud victims act quickly to stop the drain."We had a customer call us and say they’d given out her name, address and Social Security number, and afterward said they had a sick feeling about it," Van Aartsen said. "Our customer service rep said, ‘Yes. You should have a sick feeling.’ Once they have your name, address and social security number, they’re good to go."While online fraud is increasing most rapidly, people — especially the elderly — still need to be careful on the phone.She said people also need to be careful how they use their credit cards in public. "Never let that card out of your sight," she said. "In restaurants, when they take your card away to process the bill, you don’t know where they’re going with it. You can request to come along while they swipe it."Van Aartsen said anyone can purchase a $35 card swipe machine and record information from a card. That’s why financial institutions advise hotel guests to take their plastic room cards with them, or destroy them when they check out, because key data is stored on that stripe as well.Finally, she said, more cashiers should be asking for identification when swiping cards for purchases, and customers should accommodate this inconvenience."When a business asks you for identification when you use your credit, don’t be annoyed," Van Aartsen said. "Be glad that they bothered to check. Thank them for checking."What is Phishing?Phishing attacks use 'spoofed' e-mails and fraudulent Web sites designed to fool recipients into divulging personal financial data such as credit card numbers, account usernames and passwords, social security numbers, etc.By hijacking the trusted brands of well-known banks, online retailers and credit card companies, phishers are able to convince up to 5 percent of recipients to respond to them.See the following Web sites for valuable information on fraud and how to proect yourself: http://www.bankersonline.com/technology/tech_phishing052404.htmlwww.ftc…
