Your Daily Computer Security Tips

As if the sub-prime mortgage mess in the U.S. is not bad enough, the crooks are now tapping into your home equity line of credit. Actually, this is not new, and I have mentioned it before. Here’s how it works:

The hackers comb through public databases including property deeds and mortgages, to accumulate information on people with good credit and available home equity lines of credit. They will often dig up your birth date and Social Security/Insurance Number, two critical pieces of data which you should avoid revealing unless you really have to.

Then the criminal orders credit reports in your name, to check for even more info and to verify your bank account balances. Next, the baddies call your bank and ask it to wire a large chunk of that credit line to an offshore bank.

What to do? Protect your personal information well, as always. If you won’t need your line of credit in the next little while, close it. Watch your bank statements closely. U.S. residents can request a free copy of their credit report from each of the big three credit bureaus.

You can do that three times a year, at each credit bureau. So that means you can check your report nine times a year, for free. Do it.