When you think of your own personal assets, chances are your home, car,
and savings and investments come to mind. But what about your Social
Security number and your bank and credit card account numbers? To people
known as "pretexters," that information is a personal asset, too. Pretexting is the
practice of getting your personal information under false pretenses. Pretexters
sell your information to people who may use it to get credit in your name, steal
your assets, or to investigate or sue you. Pretexting is against the law.

How Pretexting Works
Pretexters use a variety of tactics to get your personal information. For example,
a pretexter may call, claim he's from a survey firm, and ask you a few questions.
When the pretexter has the information he wants, he uses it to call your financial
institution. He pretends to be you or someone with authorized access to your
account. He might claim that he's forgotten his checkbook and needs information
about his account. In this way, the pretexter may be able to obtain personal
information about you such as your Social Security number (SSN), bank and credit
card account numbers, information in your credit report, and the existence and
size of your savings and investment portfolios.

Keep in mind that some information about you may be a matter of public record,
such as whether you own a home, pay your real estate taxes, or have ever filed
for bankruptcy. It is not pretexting for another person to collect this kind of
information.

There Ought to Be a Law. Now, there is:
Under a new federal law -- the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act -- it's illegal for anyone to:

• Use false, fictitious or fraudulent statements or documents
  to get customer information from a financial institution or
  directly from a customer of a financial institution.
  
• Use forged, counterfeit, lost, or stolen documents to get
  customer information from a financial institution or directly
  from a customer of a financial institution.
  
• Ask another person to get someone else's customer information
  using false, fictitious or fraudulent statements or using false,
  fictitious or fraudulent documents or forged, counterfeit, lost,
  or stolen documents.