College Identity Theft: A Growing Problem

Most students in today’s world use their computers to access online banking, pay bills, order merchandise, and communicate in just about every other aspect of their lives, too. If personal and account information is stored on the hard drive, the thief has instant access to every information that makes it possible for them to assume the student’s identity. Some have found to have this information leaked via the internet, such as the following incident:

The personal records of over 1,000 current and former students of Southwest Mississippi Community College were made available on the internet due to a computer server crash. This was not an intentional breach. The names, social security numbers, addresses, genders, races and grade point averages were involved. Those who have been affected will be contacted by the college to get assistance with credit monitoring.

The amount of money and time lost by these schools that is used to inform affected individuals is in the thousands. Those who are affected also have to invest money and time into trying to undo any harm done by identity thieves.

College students are at high risk for identity theft. Since they don’t often check their own credit, they are the perfect target for these criminals.