Ithaca College’s Office of Public Safety reported three cases of identity theft and one case of unauthorized use of a debit card during the same week in October.

Two of the cases of identity theft were tracked to Florida, and one case was also reported in China. According to Public Safety’s incident log, one case was reported Oct. 18 and two Oct. 20. The unauthorized use of a debit card was reported Oct. 21 in the Campus Center.

Investigator Tom Dunn said while the department is investigating all of these cases, they are difficult to track. A card does not need to leave a person’s possession for money to be illegally transacted, Dunn said.

“It’s never that the card was stolen,” he said. “It’s the numbers that are being used.”

Ed Fuller, associate vice president of Information Technology Services, said the distribution of personal identification information through the Internet often leads to identity theft crimes.

“Like any media, any mechanism where you interact with other people, there’s etiquette and safety to be considered,” Fuller said.

While the location of these reports is unusual, Dunn said the Internet opens up many doors.

“If you buy something through the Internet that you have delivered to your house, the illegal transaction technically takes place at their headquarters,” Dunn said.

Three different students reported the incidents of identity theft, and Dunn said the incidents don’t appear to be linked.

“We always look to see if the crimes are associated or if the same people are associated,” Dunn said. “But for now, it’s difficult to quantify these numbers.”

Michael Melice, a teller at the CFCU bank on campus who deals with victims of identity theft, said CFCU watches all bank accounts. He said the bank blocks transactions that occur in suspicious parts of the U.S. and other countries. If students are traveling, they have to notify the bank, he said.

Melice said the bank will report suspicious actions to the account holder, or customers can file a complaint. Dunn said the bank would then require customers to file a dispute resolution form with their local law enforcement agency.

Students at the college who live far from home must report it to the Office of Public Safety, Dunn said.

The spike in identity thefts recently has caused many, including ITS, to worry about student activity on the Internet.

Fuller said one of the biggest instances of fraud occurs when people reply to phishing e-mails.

Phishing e-mails, according to the Ithaca Web page, are electronic attempts, typically through e-mail,  to acquire sensitive information. Criminals pretend to be legitimate businesses like PayPal or eBay.

“We know for instance that despite our e-mails to the community and despite our postings on Intercom … people still respond to these phishing e-mails, who end up having their e-mail credentials compromised,” Fuller said.

ITS required all students to make their passwords stronger in March 2008. Karen Sunderland, a user support specialist in Technology and Instructional Support Services, said the requirement was intended to stop illegal financial transactions and the release of other personal information.

Fuller said ITS provides reminders about criminal acts through computers.

He said credit card numbers and other personal information can be compromised through the Webmail database if students are not careful.

 “We will always continue to do the outreach efforts to make people aware … but the extent to which people listen to those messages we have little control over,” Fuller said.