VOIP.com - Internet Phone Service

Recently, a Wall Street Journal article detailed a growing threat facing customer service centers. Many companies (such as Verizon Wireless, Cingular Wireless, and T-Mobile) have been taking defensive action against a practice called pretexting (Searcy and Young, Scams Seeking Phone-Customer Data Are Growing Threat, 2006).

Pretexting is the process in which your personal information is obtained by fraudulent means. The information obtained can be used for a variety of reasons including identity theft, selling personal data for profit, or even for snooping into your private life.

Tips for Protecting Your Personal Data

Although the practice of pretexting is illegal, there are ways in which you can protect yourself and help make sure your personal information remains personal.

Be informed. Check with your cell-phone provider, financial institutions, and other company that has access to your personal information and ask them for their privacy policies. Most companies, such as voip.com, will publish their privacy policy allowing you to keep a copy for your records.

Do not give out personal information over the telephone. Unless you’re 100% positive that you are dealing with a valid company representative, do not give out your personal information. The person you may be talking to can actually be a pretexter trying to get your personal information. Whenever possible, you should use a secured method (such as an online account requiring a password) to communicate with your company.

Keep your personal information in a safe place. Your personal information should be safeguarded even in your home. Many office supply stores will sell personal security safes for less than forty dollars. This investment will not only protect your personal information from pretexting, but may also even protect your documents from a fire.

Change your passwords regularly. Also, avoid using passwords such as your mother’s maiden name, a birthday, a child’s name, consecutive numbers, or other “easy” passwords.

How voip.com Protects Your Personal Data

Voip.com respects the privacy of its customers and takes its obligations to protect the privacy of its customers seriously. Most account changes and information can only be obtained through the secure voip.com user control panel. Guarded by both a username and password, the voip.com user control panel helps to safeguard your personal information as well as making sure that only authorized individuals can make changes to your account.

Sources / Additional Information

Searcey, D. and Young, S. (2006, September 8). Scams Seeking Phone-Customer Data Are Growing Threat. The Wall Street Journal Online. Retrieved September 8, 2006 from http://online.wsj.com.

Federal Trade Commission. (2006, February). Pretexting: Your Personal Information Revealed. Retrieved from http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/pretext.htm.