Protecting your Identity

It’s an unfortunate fact but crimes related to identity theft are on the rise. What makes it difficult for law enforcement agencies is that these crimes are difficult to detect and catch. For students utilizing the internet for scholarship searches, applying for financial aid and applying to schools; protecting your personal information is more important than ever.

At Red Rocks Community College we have policies in place to help students protect their information.

• Students are given Student Identification Numbers, starting with an ‘R’, to use when identifying yourself to school offices instead of the once used Social Security Number

• The Student Financial Aid office, in compliance with the recent laws passed by Congress (Gramm-Leach Bliley), will not discuss their financial aid information with anyone other than the student. That includes parents. If you wish to have your parents involved in your financial aid please stop by our office or complete the Release of Information form available in our Forms section.

• The Student Financial Aid Office will not discuss dollar amounts over the phone to anyone, even to people identifying themselves as the student. Information regarding student accounts is available online at to those that have the proper log in information.

While this may make some interactions with our office less convenient for some students, it is done to protect student information and to ensure that only the correct individuals have access to your information.

What to be aware of as a student:

As a student you have a number of resources available to you online that never existed before. You can search for and apply for scholarships, apply for federal financial aid and apply for admissions all online.  It is important for you to be aware of the information you are sharing and with whom you are sharing it. Federal and state agencies will often require a social security number to verify your eligibility for certain programs. Private scholarship programs typically use it as a system of identification. You should ask those programs if there are alternatives and why that information is required.

If any scholarship program sounds too good to be true, it is.  If anyone contacts you out of the blue and asks for your bank account number or a payment of a fee in order to receive a grant, walk away.

Tips for students:

• Memorize your Social Security number and passwords. Don’t record your password on papers you carry with you.
• Don’t use your date of birth as your password.
• Shred pre-approved credit applications and other financial documents before discarding them.
• Order credit reports every year from each of the major credit reporting agencies and thoroughly review them for accuracy.
• Never give personal or financial information over the phone or Internet unless you initiated the contact.
• Don’t carry your Social Security card or birth certificate with you.
• Report lost or stolen credit cards immediately.
• Check your monthly credit card and bank statements for unusual activity.
• Use a firewall program on your computer, especially if you leave your computer connected to the Internet 24 hours a day.
• Do not download files sent to you by strangers or click on hyperlinks from people you don’t know.

Students applying for or using student financial aid should also:

• Use caution when using commercial financial aid services over the Internet or telephone. U.S. Department of Education services are free and password-protected. Before deciding to use a for-fee financial aid advice service, visit the Looking for Student Aid site.
• Apply for federal student aid at www.fafsa.ed.gov. After completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) electronically, remember to exit the application and close the browser.
• Don’t reveal your PIN to anyone, even it that person is helping you fill out the FAFSA. The only time you should use your PIN is on secure ED systems.
• Shred receipts and copies of documents with personal information if they are no longer needed.
• Review your financial aid award documents and keep track of the amount of student aid you applied for and have been awarded.
• Report all lost or stolen student identification immediately.

You can find additional information regarding this subject at the following sites:

Federal Trade Commission Resource Web Page

Office of the inspector General

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