Identity theft is a threat in Sisters

Identity theft is on the rise in the U.S. A thief steals your good name to go on a shopping spree costing customers and businesses billions of dollars in losses.

In Sisters, businesses try to find the right balance between obtaining the information they need and protecting their customers’ personal information.

A study released by the Better Business Bureau reported that 9.3 million Americans were victims of identity theft in 2004.

The crime costs billions of dollars to businesses and financial institutions in America.

It takes the average victim hundreds of hours to clear their name and remove fraudulent information from his or her credit report.

At Ray’s Food Place, bad transactions have gone down thanks to a decrease in check writing.

Manager Jeff McDonald said in the past five years, he has seen an 85 percent drop in checks with most transactions being processed with debit and credit cards.

When the customer swipes their plastic through Ray’s machine, that transaction is verified and any problem is known before the person leaves with the groceries.

“There’s less room for fraud,” said McDonald.

Ray’s protects customers’ information in several ways. McDonald points out that credit card receipts X out all but the last four digits of a customer’s credit card. So a lost receipt would not provide enough information for an identity thief.

When Ray’s takes checks, they do not ask for a Social Security number or write a credit card number on the check.

Those precautions are in keeping with recommendations from consumer groups on avoiding identity theft.

Ray’s often takes large catering orders by telephone. Sometimes they punch in the credit card number without ever writing it down. If it is written, that paper is shredded within minutes after the transaction is processed. McDonald says only a limited number of employees take these large phone orders. In Ray’s video department, customers’ personal information is safe guarded in a double-password-protected computer.

At The Jewel, owner Jan Daggett says they have been “very trusting over the years” about accepting payment for expensive items from both local and out-of-town customers.

Daggett said many repeat customers call to order an item they saw in the store. If they say “just put it on my card,” Daggett explains that isn’t possible since her store keeps credit card information in a separate and secure place rather than in a customer’s file.

When accepting checks, The Jewel often checks the photo and signature on a driver’s license. However, one thief had enough fake information to slip by. A few years ago, a man with a fake license passed a bad check for $895.

“We did everything we could,” said The Jewel’s General Manager Carol Borg.

However, the thief was never caught and the store never recovered their money.

Borg said when she asks for identification, she tells customers that she is helping to protect their identity. Borg said when she is shopping, she does not consider it an inconvenience to be asked for identification. She said it is simply a “sign of the times we live in” that it is necessary.

Borg points out that fraudulent transactions at her store are rare.

“So much of our cliental is repeat, that it doesn’t come up often,” Borg said.

Despite fears about personal information being stolen on the Internet, the Better Business Bureau study shows most theft occurs from low-tech methods.

Thieves take purses and wallets and steal information from the mail. The report also concluded that relatives and neighbors made up for half of all known identity thieves.

Most identity theft victims report that their credit cards were misused.

However, thieves also use personal information to open bank accounts and obtain medical care and employment

You can reduce your chances of being a victim by checking your credit card and bank account statements for any unauthorized transactions.

Also, you should check your credit report annually to make sure the information is correct.

The Federal Trade Commission offers more tips for reducing identity theft at the Web site http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft.