Why do bad things happen to good people?

It really isn’t that hard to steal someone’s identity and most people are not always proactive about protecting personal information, making them perfect candidates for identity theft. Good people are often too trusting and naive, but you don’t have to have these personality traits to become a victim, it can happen to anyone and it can lead to serious financial problems including personal bankruptcy.

How does identity theft happen and how do you prevent it?

I am listing here some of the most common ways a thief gets access to your information and you will most likely begin to think about the many times you may have contributed to increasing the likelihood of this happening to you.

1.Online Phishing Scams- one of the most common and still very effective methods. When you are contacted via email or phone by someone asking you to "verify" specific information related to your credit card, pay pal or bank account, they are phishing. No credit card company or bank will EVER contact you asking you for any information about your account over the phone or via email. They know there’s a lot of risk in doing this. Paypal, (an eBay company) also does not practice this. Yet there are tons of spam emails in millions of inboxes asking for this information and very often the information is provided by people who are led to believe that these are legitimate requests.

One method closely related to phishing is getting that call that says you’ve won a prize, they’re usually really excited and they try hard to get you excited about the bogus prize. Once they get you to that level, they’ll ask for your bank account so they can deposit your winnings for you. You kindly provide the info and wait for the prize money to post, only to find out that you’ve just given the thief a prize. This one has not gotten old yet, it still works.

2.Online hackers – if you’re online a lot you probably have learned a few ways to protect yourself from computer hacks. This is still a growing trend today. Many online users do not make use of the necessary technologies to protect their computer systems. Virus software and firewall software should be used on every PC you own to properly protect your identity while you’re online. Hackers are very resourceful individuals and they know how to get into some of the most secure sites in the world so your Dell PC running Widows XP or Vista is no big challenge if they want to get in bad enough. If you’re used to keeping files with credit card and bank account information on your system they can easily be found and taken.

3.Credit card offers – this is something that highly contributes to the chances of you becoming a victim. Credit card companies are in business for money and nothing else. Any protection they are likely to extend to you for a monthly fee is in fact useless as far as your total identity theft protection goes. If a credit card company receives an application with all your personal information, they will process the application after checking your credit and send you the approved card shortly after. Anyone with your information can make this request and with the convenience of the internet it’s even easier.

To opt out of credit card offers you can do a search for "opt out of credit card offers" and you’ll get a few reliable sources where you need to provide your information for this to happen. You can do this for a time limit or permanently. Always use caution when you provide this information online, make sure the "lock" icon shows up near the status bar of your browser, this means that the information you’re about to provide will be encrypted and protected.

4. Old browsers – if you are still running windows ME, ‘98 or God forbid ‘95 for some reason, then you’re probably using a very outdated version of Internet Explorer. If that’s the case, you’re not only at risk you’re asking for it. Older browsers have serious vulnerabilities that have been corrected in the more recent versions, so if this is you, fix it immediately. Whether you use IE, Firefox or Opera, always update your browsers to the newer versions when they’re released since the security features are often updated. Firefox and Opera in particular pay special emphasis to security and make it a little easier to protect your identity.

5.Your wallet and your purse – how much information do you carry with you? Are you one of those people with a burrito size wallet full of receipts, notes, credit cards, membership cards, contact and other sensitive information? What would happen if you lost your wallet of purse with all of this information in it? It would probably take you more than a few hours to notify every credit card company that you have lost your cards. But how do you know if you have covered yourself enough. Some people even carry their kids’ social security numbers in their wallets as well. Children can easily become victims of identity theft as well, their financial lives could be ruined before they even start them.

6.Shred your old information – shredders are not expensive, invest in one at once. Never put your old bank account statements or credit card bills in the trash bin. One method of identity theft that is still effective today is known as dumpster diving, where a willing thief digs through trash to find usable information to get an easy payday. This information can be used to access your accounts and you may have just made somebody’s day by making it available to them. Get in the habit of shredding everything.

7.Spam and pirated software – You should never open spam email, these are emails from sources you do not recognize, and often your web mail account will automatically filter. But for those that make their way into your inbox, you should always delete. Also never download, or accept pirated software no matter how cool the application is. The code on the software has been modified so that it can install without a product key, meaning that the hacker has also been able to add code that can record your activities. These are called keyboard logging programs, which run in the background and you never know about. Once your typing has been recorded the program will send the information to the hacker who can use that information to get access to account logins with your passwords into your credit card or bank account.

Even when you take all these precautions, identity theft can still happen. These are only some of the most common ways identities are stolen. Thieves are becoming more and more creative with their scams, and know that their methods only work for so long and so they’re constantly coming up with new ways of getting to your information. It’s because of these unknown methods that no one can be truly safe.

There are ways to  against identity theft, but most of these are merely monitoring services that are offered through sponsored programs run by the three credit bureaus. These programs have certain guarantees but basically what the service does for you is notify you of suspicious events on your credit. Meaning that they notify you when something has occurred, and this is your queue to take action and stop the illegal activity.

A more advanced method of protecting your identity is to have a complete service for identity theft protection that not only monitors your credit activity but stops new account from being opened under your name and SSN. These are more specialized services and they offer advanced features that you simply can not implement on your own. In the most extreme cases, you may need the services of an identity theft lawyer to regain your own identity.

Technorati Tags: identity theft attorney, identity theft lawyers

Identity theft is a widely prevalent fraudulent practice in countries like Canada and USA as well as in other countries of the world and results in huge financial losses, loss of credulity and at times even closure of financial institutions or corporations or concerns and firms.

Sometimes a concern has to spend millions of dollars or pounds just to clear up its name after being a victim of identity theft. When individuals are victimized by identity thieves, they can even land up behind the bars for no fault of theirs.

One such identity theft case that hit the headlines and grabbed eyeballs during primetime viewing hours is the Countrywide Home Loans identity theft case. This particular glaring example of identity theft case made national news.

In 2008 the FBI arrested two people in connection with a scam involving the stealing and sale of private information belonging to Countrywide Home Loans corporation’s 2 million customers. One of the accused is a former employee of this company. His name is Rene L. Rebollo Jr. of Pasadena and his age is 36 years.

The other accused belongs to Thousands Oaks. His name happens to be Wahid Siddiqui and he is only 25 years of age.

They have been charged with purchase of data that can be used for identification.

The main concern of investigators working on this case is to determine whether the identities of a few customers have already been compromised or not and if the case is so, these unfortunate customers will be formally notified and they will also receive assistance in future.

There was a police complaint filed the night before and acting on that complaint, a security breach was discovered at Countrywide Financial by the internal investigators and the FBI and a joint investigation is underway.

It has been alleged that Rebollo who has been sacked used to work in the company’s mortgage division where he could easily access the computer databases. The latter was the place where all kinds of sensitive information of the whole legion of Countrywide customers scattered across USA is stored.

In response to interrogation conducted by the FBI, Rebollo has admitted to siphoning off and passing on the account information of customers of Countrywide to third parties and that he has been involved in this nefarious activity
for the last 2 years.

Technorati Tags: Identity Theft, protection from identity theft

Before moving on to the topic of identity theft commercials, let me first explain what is meant by identity theft or else you will find it difficult to grasp the meaning or intention of identity theft commercials.

Identity theft

It is a kind of fraud or illegal practice where an individual/conman assumes your identity by extracting personal information and details like your credit card number, debit card number, SSN, bank account details, credit account details, driving license number, passport number etc from the necessary documents by hacking into them or through other illegal means and then siphons off money from your account without your knowledge or approval.

These conmen do it with a criminal intention, obviously for financial gain and you remain blissfully in the dark until that alarming call from the creditors jolts you out of your slumber. You start receiving bills for huge expenses incurred through your card, while you may not have used your plastic money card even once that month!

You will get bills for things you did not purchase; you will be financially ruined and may even land up behind the bars because you have been a victim of identity theft.

Identity theft commercials

Although identity theft is a very serious crime and punishable under law, identity theft commercials are mostly humorous and depend on the humor appeal or laugh factor to tickle your funny bones. Most of the commercials are at best absurd and they raise belly laughter.

But some commercials are pretty scary or touch a chord with the audience.
The main intention behind creating these commercials is of course to provide entertainment and earn revenue, but at the same time it is entertainment with a difference. It is entertainment with a purpose, message – the message that things like these do happen in the real world and it could happen to you, that you might be the next victim of identity theft.

So these commercials succeed in creating awareness about a very serious and widely prevalent crime which general people refuse to take seriously unless they are themselves victimized.

Identity theft commercials often show various methods or the modus operandi adopted by identity thieves to siphon off money and become rich at someone else’s expense while the unsuspecting victim is left in the lurch to face the music.
Popular identity theft commercials often concentrate on phishing and skimming strategies.

The latter is involved with extracting information from credit or debit cards through a hand held device while swiping the card. It usually happens in stores and restaurants and is done by dishonest waiters or cashiers or store attendants.

Identity theft commercials also bring to the forefront other novel techniques of stealing such as shoulder surfing or fraudulent emails, and even while laughing at the exaggerated commercials, you become aware of the crime and are automatically put on guard, unconsciously.

The next time you use your credit card or ATM card or SSN, you are a whole lot careful and wary and cautious, thanks to identity theft commercials.

Technorati Tags: Identity Theft, identity theft commercials, identity thieves, stop identity theft

Preventing Identity Theft

Following are the ways of preventing identity theft –
Do not carry all your credit cards, credit reports, debit cards and social security number with you wherever you go. You may lose your purse or your wallet might get stolen.

Keep these very important documents in a safe and secure place in your home and make photocopies of these things which you should carry, but not in your wallet.

When you have to carry your ATM card or credit card with you, use only one instead of all. When any of these gets stolen or are lost, report the theft or loss immediately to the concerned financial institution.

While making payments through credit or debit cards, ask for safety policies and procedures and see if any cashier or waiter at a restaurant or store is swiping your card in a suspicious way. They may be using skimmers hidden in their hands.

For online shopping credit cards are a safer bet than debit cards because the former is more immune to fraud. When any guy claiming affiliation to some business concern asks for your personal information details like bank account or credit card or social security number over the phone or an online company asks for them through the internet or through mail, just ignore and shut them off unless you know them thoroughly and trust them.

Credit card receipts, cash memos, cash receipts should never be dumped in roadside trash bins. While getting rid of expired credit or debit cards or other such cards, shred them into pieces with card shredders and destroy them completely before throwing them away.

Do not write out your SSN or driving license number on the checks that you issue. You should often go through your credit report and order them at regular intervals and whenever you notice any irregularity in the credit report, report it to the concerned authorities.

Subscribe to a credit monitoring service to get immediate alerts on fraudulent practices with your credit report. Create PINs and passwords with care making them as complicated and difficult as possible so as to prevent hacking. Select difficult to guess passwords combining numbers and letters and different caps. Longer passwords are difficult to crack.

Financial institutions allow the creation of an extra or additional password or code for added protection. Use that facility. Now don’t write down your difficult to hack passwords and PIN on a piece of paper and carry it about with you in your wallet! That’s the stupidest thing to do and defeats the whole purpose of protecting your accounts with passwords.

You should memorize your password. Never divulge your SSN in public or private, never shout it out, keep all documents and personal information details out of bounds for room mates, merchants, sellers, health care personnel, waiters, sales staff, domestic help, plumber and other such people.

Technorati Tags: cyber crime, prevent identity theft, stop identity thieves

Get Identity Theft Insurance if you feel vunerable

It is one of the most widely reported crimes all over the world and every three minutes one identity theft case is reported in USA. It is estimated that the United Kingdom experiences one hundred thousand identity theft cases per annum.

One of the most regrettable facts concerning identity theft is that in spite of being one of the predominant crimes in North America, people hardly care a tuppence about it until it strikes them.

Before going on to the issue of identity theft insurance, let me first explain in easy terms what identity theft actually is. Identity thieves assume the identity of their victims by gaining access to the victim’s personal information like SSN and debit/credit card details, passport number, bank account and credit account details and other such things.

Then they use this information to siphon off money from bank accounts, purchase services and expensive stuff using credit card, apply for loans etc using your identity.

Throughout the course you are unaware that you are financially being exploited or ruined until that call from your creditors urging you to pay up huge credit card bills for that month, when actually you had never used your credit card even once during that month.

Thus financial gain or some kind of a criminal motive is the main reason identity thieves single out individuals with good credit history or firms or corporations or companies.

Identity theft insurance

Like for other things, insurance is available for identity theft as well. But most financial experts will unanimously agree that identity theft insurance is not a very useful safeguard or idea and there is hardly any need for identity theft insurance.

It is better if you religiously follow the preventive measures recommended by financial experts like being careful about divulging the details of your personal information like bank and debit/credit card details and SSN in public or to unknown people.

Like in other spheres of life, prevention is the best cure in identity theft cases and you need to exercise caution beforehand to minimize the risk and threat of being victimized.

Conditions for taking identity theft insurance

But if you still feel that you should take identity theft insurance to protect yourself further then you should consider the following things –

Whether the premium you have to pay is of a moderate rate or not. If the fees are too high or the conditions don’t suit you, just chuck the idea and move on to the next insurance company.

Enquire about the policy limits and whether there are deductions and coverage of lost wages. Direct monetary losses won’t be covered by insurance. Also enquire about the legal procedures.

Technorati Tags: Identity Theft, insurance, stop identity thieves

Internet identity theft

Identity theft is nothing new. Earlier thieves used to steal your wallet and get to know some personal information from the driving license, or pick up thrown away receipts from garbage dumps to piece together your identity.

But with the technological leap, internet has become very commonplace and a venue where identity thefts can be committed. It has reached manic proportions in the last decade as according to an FTC survey nearly 1 in 8 Americans have somehow or the other been victims of internet identity theft in the last 5 years.

It is a more dangerous threat as the unsuspecting victims get to know their personal information has been tampered with much later. Usually the predators steal into someone else’s identity for buying expensive items using the victim’s credit or hacking through personal records of elderly people to make away with their retirement benefits.

Most of the victims remain unaware of the damage to them before it is too late. Again credit agencies come calling soon as the victims are liable for any frauds committed using their personal identity as a cover. They are seen as guilty unless they prove themselves innocent which can take time depending on the seriousness of the damage and the attorney’s expertise who takes up their case.

But identity theft attorneys are known to work for free without fees till the cases are solved and the money is recovered. Usually they cut a deal with their clients for a percentage of the recovered amount as their legal fees. 

In the world of internet identity theft, it is the computer which collects all sorts of information about the user and keeps it hidden in files very deep in the hard drive. Cache, browser history and internet files store login, password, names, addresses and even some credit card numbers.

Predators out to steal your personal information can always get it while it is being sent over unsecured transmissions or get information automatically from installation of softwares like spyware in your computer. To stop spyware from creating a computer fraud, it needs to be stopped at the entry point.

Usually promo and financial sites lure unsuspecting users to part with their names, birth details, bank account numbers or social security numbers that are sent over to predators. Later they use them to cut through your credit and other financial instruments without you even knowing about it long after the real damage is done.

To protect yourself, you need internet solutions that can match and ward off prying users from accessing your personal information like McAfee that forewarns about dangerous websites like ActiveX, a favorite with hackers and identity thieves to enter your system and collect personal facts about you.

Consumers can also be warned through email and text alerts by credit bureaus about any funny changes in their credit files but ultimately to block identity theft, it is ultimately the consumers who need to be on their watch. 

Technorati Tags: identity fraud on the Internet, identity thieves, stop indetity theft