Identity theft refers to a crime in which one person steals personal data with the intent of achieving some kind of gain. Personal data can include a name, social security number, drivers license number, credit card or bank account number, etc. While perpetrators of identity theft generally seek financial gain, some seek drivers licenses, birth certificates, or other government documentation.
Physical sources, like your bank statements, along with non-physical tools, like spyware that infects your computer, give thieves direct access to your personal information. With your social security number alone, a thief can pose as you to obtain employment, open credit card accounts, or secure loans. Using your social security number along with your date of birth and other personal information, a thief could then proceed to have your billing address changed, covering his or her tracks and delaying your discovery of the theft.
Identity theft refers to a more sophisticated fraud in which an identity is assumed for making multiple transactions while identity fraud is the adoption of anothers identity for a single transaction.
According to FBI statistics, identity theft is the nations fastest growing crime. It is also the Federal Trade Commissions (FTC) fastest growing complaint category.
In 1997, the FTC established the Consumer Sentinel, a database that collects complaints and analyzes trends regarding identity theft. In 2004, the Sentinel received over 635,000 complaints of identity theft and fraud in which consumers reported losses of more than $547 million. The Sentinel also revealed the three major metropolitan areas with the highest per capita rates of identity theft: Las Vegas (NV), Los Angeles (CA), and Phoenix (AZ).
Because identity theft is a growing problem, being aware of the possible ways in which your identity could be stolen is important. According to the Sentinels 2004 report, credit card fraud was the most common form of reported identity theft. Following credit card fraud, in descending order, is phone or utilities fraud, bank fraud, and employment fraud. Other significant forms of identity theft include loan fraud, bankruptcy fraud, and government documents or benefits fraud.
Recently, the quest for personal information has become more subversive and subtle. While it is not the main method thieves use to steal your personal information, the Internet poses a mounting threat for consumers.
Through email, websites, downloads, and messaging services, the personal information stored on and sent through your computer can be completely exposed, making you an easy target for identity theft.
Spyware, viruses and worms, and phishing scams are some ways in which your computer can make you a target of identity fraud. In a Consumer Reports survey of over 3,200 internet-using households, one-third of the respondents reported that a virus or spyware had caused serious problems with their computer and/or financial losses within the past two years.
Spyware, a quickly growing, complicated hazard, infiltrates your computer either through email attachments or a free download. When you download "free" software from a website, you may also be downloading spyware that will collect and transmit data from your system.
Not only will spyware track your online activities and report them to marketers but it can also potentially exercise control over your computer without your consent or knowledge. One common form of this constantly mutating hazard generates pop-up ads that interfere with your browser. These spyware-generated ads will slow down your computer. Enough of them could cause your system to crash completely.
According to the previously mentioned Consumer Reports survey, 52% of respondents reported a spyware contamination within the past six months.
Viruses and worms, two of the most destructive online dangers, typically enter your system through email attachments or file downloads and then spread by emailing copies of themselves to the entries in your address book.
Viruses and worms destroy critical files on your hard drive and can also allow hackers to send out large volumes of spam from your computer. Forty percent of the Consumer Reports respondents experienced noticeable operating problems or lost entire files permanently.
As an online danger that has plagued internet users for nearly two decades, viruses and worms are now frequently designed for criminal activity. Symantec, the producer of Norton Antivirus, reported that more than half of the major viruses active during the last six months of 2004 were configured to steal personal information. The Consumer Reports survey indicated that 64% of respondents had found viruses in their computer systems within the last two years.
Phishing scams, which can come in the form of an email or a phone solicitation, attempt to collect your personal data by posing as a particular business or financial institution that claims to be helping you.
The newest form of phishing involves sending an email with no text and no link in the content box. Nothing happens until you try to log onto your banks website at which point the scam sends you to a fake site and records the personal data you input. An alternate version will simply record the information you input at the legitimate bank website.
The Anti-Phishing Working Group reported that over 2,800 bogus websites were running last March, indicating a 64% increase over a three-month period.
Having your personal information is the only way for a thief to commit identity fraud. Old-fashioned theft of physical property is still the most popular method identity thieves use: stealing wallets and purses quickly yields a rich source of personal information.
Additionally, other physical sources that are generally overlooked are easy for a thief to access. A person looking to commit identity fraud can find pre-approved credit card offers, bank and billing statements, and other documents with your personal information in your dumpster as well as in your mail box.
With thieves constantly inventing new methods of retrieving your personal information, identity theft is an escalating problem for consumers.