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Identity theft can be accomplished by sending fraudulent emails to unsuspecting consumers. The emails typically notify the consumer of a situation they must immediately rectify by logging in to their account and inputting their account information, and include a link that appears to go to the website referenced. When the consumer... more »
Identity theft on the Internet often happens when a person is fooled into giving out personal information in response to a scam email message. This is known as "phishing" because criminals are fishing for information. These messages usually claim to be from a bank, PayPal, the IRS or another financial or governmental institution. They... more »
Every day you probably find dozens of spam emails clogging your inbox. Among them you may see warnings that you must contact your bank to prevent your account from being frozen or that you must download information to double check a purchase you don't remember making. These are common examples of email identity theft scams. You must... more »
Since paper was invented, there has been a need to destroy it. Originally, this was done by hand, tearing it into small pieces. Eventually, a machine was developed to finely shred documents that contained personal or classified information. Today, privacy laws require that many different kinds of documents be shredded, including... more »
Online shopping has become a fast and convenient way to make purchases without having to leave the comforts of your own home. Just a few clicks of the mouse and you are well on your way to a peaceful shopping experience without the hassles of looking for parking spots, or fighting crowds.
And as long as you have some kind of credit... more »
A credit crunch for debt-heavy businesses means job cuts and reduced capital spending. Cut your...
Having highly rated customer service agents working for a business is one of the keys to success...
Identity theft is quickly becoming one of the most common crimes. Identity theft occurs when your personal information, such as your Social... more »
According to the Federal Trade Commission, as many as 9 million Americans are victims of identity theft each year. Before criminals can use your... more »
In this age of hackers, digital thieves, and other virtual miscreants, the issue of identify theft has become so common, businesses must find ways... more »
Social networking websites can increase the risk of online identity theft. If someone has hacked into your MySpace account or opened an account... more »
Did you know that you can visit a random website online and have spyware or a virus instantly installed to your computer, even if you didn't ask... more »
Identity theft is a term used to refer to fraud that involves someone pretending to be someone else in order to steal money or get other benefits. The term dates to 1964 http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50111220/50111220se23 OED Online. September 2007. Oxford University Press.and is actually a misnomer, since it is not inherently possible to steal an identity, only to use it. The person whose identity is used can suffer various consequences when he or she is held responsible for the perpetrators actions. In many countries specific laws make it a crime to use another persons identity for personal gain.
Identity theft is somewhat different from identity fraud. However, the terms are often used interchangeably. Identity fraud is the result of identity theft. Someone can steal or appropriate someones identifying information without actually committing identity fraud. The best example of this is when a data breach occurs. There has been very little evidence to link ID fraud to data breaches. A Government Accountability Office study determined that "most breaches have not resulted in detected incidents of identity theft".http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d07737.pdf However the title of that report is "Data Breaches Are Frequent, but Evidence of Resulting Identity Theft Is Limited; However, the Full Extent Is Unknown". A later study by Carnegie Mellon University concluded that "the probability of becoming a victim to identity theft as a result of a data breach is ...around only 2%".http://www.heinz.cmu.edu/research/241full.pdf More recently, one of the largest data breaches ever, accounting for over four million records, resulted in only about 1800 instances of identity theft, according to the company whose systems were breached.http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id256153 However, synthetic ID theft is not always detectable by the consumers whose information was used, according to an FTC report.Federal Trade Commission – 2006 Identity Theft Survey Report read more at » http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity+theft
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