NYLON – Governor Andrew Cuomo warned college students on Wednesday not to buy fake ID’s on the online black market, saying that the people making the fakes could steal their real identities.
According to news partner 13WHAM, Governor Cuomo said that investigators have found dozens of cases of identity theft after college students handed over their names and other personal details to scam artists.
Governor Cuomo said that the effects of identity theft can linger for years. According to the 2014 Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, 18 percent of identity theft victims were ages 20 to 29 and about six percent of victims were 19 years old or younger.
Governor Cuomo added that unfortunately, young people are less likely to regularly track bank account and credit card activity, pay for identity theft monitoring services, and use discretion when sharing information on social media, making them more susceptible to identity theft than any other age group.
NYLON is the New York Local Online News section of the GeneseeSun.com, dedicated to uniting communities outside of Livingston County.