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Amy Hoak's Home Economics

7 ways to prevent theft on campus

CHICAGO (MarketWatch)--One of the biggest threats on college campuses today is theft, as students have more personal electronics to keep tabs on these days and their financial information is vulnerable.

Billy Puschel learned this the hard way.

Puschel, a 21-year-old student at Arcadia University in Glenside, Pa., was the victim of identity fraud during his first semester at college three years ago. The perpetrator: his own roommate.

The roommate stole two debit-card numbers from Puschel's wallet, which was left on his desk. It wasn't until Puschel was trying to make a purchase and was denied that he became aware of the shopping spree that his roommate had gone on.

"We weren't very good friends," Puschel said of the student he was paired with to share a room. But "he didn't strike me as someone who would steal my stuff."

College students are particularly vulnerable to theft. Because they live in close quarters in college dormitories--sometimes sharing a room with someone they've only just met--they're more at risk of becoming victims, said Elaine Baisden, vice president of personal insurance for Travelers.

Beyond the contents of their wallets and purses, the things students take with them to school are often more expensive than in generations past.

"I don't know a college student who doesn't own a laptop these days," Baisden said. It's also not uncommon for students to take other personal electronics, videogame systems, bicycles, stereo equipment and televisions to campus.

In addition, students are vulnerable to identity fraud on college campuses.

Consider these identity-fraud statistics: The average amount stolen from a student is $2,693, compared with $1,513 for all fraud victims, according to Javelin Strategy & Research's 2012 identity-fraud report. It also typically takes students longer to detect the fraud. The mean detection time for students is 94 days, compared with 50 days for all victims.

That's likely due to the fact that many students are managing their own finances for the first time when they go away to school, and they may be naive when it comes to protecting themselves from thieves, said Stephen Coggeshall, chief technology officer of ID Analytics, a consumer risk management company.

One of the ways parents of college students can help them prepare for these realities is by making sure that their property is properly insured, Baisden said.

If the student's primary residence is the same as his or her parents and they are living on campus, a certain percentage of their contents will often be covered under the parents' homeowners policy.

If the student is living off-campus, he or she most likely needs to purchase renters insurance for coverage. Renters insurance typically costs about $150 to $200 a year, Baisden said. If the student will be living with roommates, each one should get his own policy.

At this time, it's also a good idea to do a general coverage review, Baisden said. If students will be taking expensive items such as jewelry or a musical instrument with them to school, you might consider adding a rider to the renters or homeowners policy to cover them, she added.

If identity theft is of concern, identity fraud protection can often be added to a homeowners or renters policy, and will cover all the individuals on the policy, said Joe Reynolds, identity theft product manager for Travelers. Travelers' protection runs about $25, he said.

Of course, it's best to do all that you can to prevent theft from happening in the first place. Here are some tips for college students heading off to school to help minimize their chances of becoming a victim of theft on campus.

Leave valuables at home. Keep expensive items--especially those with nostalgic value that you can't replace--at home, Baisden said. Also, keep a slim wallet, taking only the items you need and leaving items, such as your Social Security card, at home.

Take inventory. Take pictures and create a list of what you're taking with you to school, Baisden said. "Kids tend to lend out a lot of things," she said, and having a checklist will help you remember what your friends might be holding on to at the end of the year.

Don't leave items unattended. Studious young adults will spend plenty of time in the school's library, for example, and might be tempted to leave their belongings unattended at times, Baisden said. Resist the urge. Her own daughter had her cellphone stolen on one of the first few days of school when she looked away and an opportunistic peer nabbed her phone.

Keep financial documents in a safe place. Credit-card statements, phone bills--anything that has your account number, Social Security number or date of birth on it--should be kept in a safe place, such as a locked drawer. Better yet, cancel your paper statements and get them electronically instead, which will make it harder for people to get at, Coggeshall said.

Watch your financial statements. Make sure you're watching statements for any suspicious activity. It's important to report fraudulent activity as soon as possible, Reynolds said.

Be careful about online information. What you put on social-media websites can be used against you. If someone has your name, address and birthday, they might be able to call and obtain information on a financial account of yours, Coggeshall said. With that information, they might also be able to apply for a credit card or cellphone, simply making up information for fields they don't know, such as your Social Security number. Make sure to create strong passwords for your accounts, and lock your smartphone with a password as well.

Use caution when working on public computers. Don't access personal accounts on a public computer. "Basically, whatever you type into a public computer you should consider it accessible to the next person [to use the computer]," Coggeshall said.