Facts you must know about Identity Theft

We all have seen in movies and read stories where people get murdered and then their identities are used by the criminal to escape from the law. Now the world has changed technology enabled those criminals to commit this on a larger scale.

Identity theft is a crime difficult to spot on,and that is the main reason behind the increase of numerous victims every day. More you graduate yourself about this; more are the chances of protecting yourself from being the victim. You can’t prevent it; no one can avoid it as every day we are sharing our personal information over the internet or elsewhere for different reasons. Your chance of being a victim depends on the limit of the information you share.

According to an online survey conducted by different Anti-Virus companies more than 8 million people already experienced this identity theft. Hackers breach into any business or government computer databases to get the personal information of millions of people. With a single breach, they can steal millions of information. Then these hackers use this information to commit their crimes. Your personal information like full names, birthdates and Social security numbers are the main target of these hackers.

How Is Identity theft done?

There are many ways culprits can steal your identity;afew are listed below:

Congrats Winner!

Identity thieves make a call or send tempted emails of prize winnings and lure the victim into giving their personal information and credit card information. They tell the person that you have won a free vacation or some grand amount or gift in a Lucky Draw, but the person has to verify the personal information including the date of birth and all. The prize is free except sales tax which is a nominal amount, and ask for the person to provide credit card details. They rush the victim to take an immediate decision or sound like losing it if delayed. When it is about identity theft, noidentitytheft.com can be helpful for you to get rid of this problem.

Phishing: Identity thieves send mailers to intended victims and trick them into taking action that might give them all the details of personal information.

Malware: Free games download, free software downloads, is also kind of attempt to trap the victims. We don’t realize this that free software can include malicious application or malware that can give complete access to the computers or entire networks.

Skimming Debit or Credit Card Numbers: Identity thieves use a data storage device (Skimmers) to collect information from the magnetic strip of the credit card or debit or ATM card at an ATM. Small cameras are installed to record the PIN entered on the number pad.

Above are technology-oriented thefts but there are still low technology tactics in existence.

Dumpster Diving
These people look out in the trash for personal information, bank statements, credit card bills, medical bills, insurance bills, and old tax forms or any income related forms that can be used for identity theft.

Mail Stealers

These are rare in nature but often active. They target a person and get information directly from their mailbox. They are looking for emails related to credit card bills, bank statements, tax information, medical bills information, professional information, and personal cheques.

Stealing Your Wallet or Purse: A purse or wallet are all always resourceful for thieves. Driving license, debit cards, credit cards, salary slips, bank deposit slips these are common in a wallet or purse.

Bottom LIne:

In the present electronic age, it is very important to protect your information. Unfortunately, there are fraudsters everywhere just waiting for you to make a mistake. If you become the victim and do not find out immediately, it is going to cause severe damage to your financial or personal life. You can even find yourself indulge in some serious crime which you did not commit because someone used your personal information to execute the offense. Even if you find it quickly you end up spending thousands of dollars and millions of hours trying to repair the damage.

If you find that you become a victim consider the following steps: