There are many popular identity theft scams that are circulating, some have been around for decades while others are new to the scene. Some thieves will never stop trying to find a way to steal the one thing that is most important to you – your very identity. Each year, millions of people have their identities stolen in some way or are defrauded in some way.
Let’s take a look at some of the more popular schemes to steal your identity and how you can determine if they are scams or not when you are faced with them.
Share This
There are many scams on the Internet, we know this already – we have all received spam emails in our inboxes and we delete them without further thought. What happens though when ‘spam’ is undetectable? What if you get an email from your bank or online bank that looks real and is asking for your information to be input on a website? Looks legitimate so you go ahead and do it – after all, they said your account would expire if you did not. Is that a scam or an attempt at identity fraud? Yes, it is.
This is a preview of
Internet Safety - Protecting Yourself From Identity Fraud
.
Read the full post (734 words, estimated 2:56 mins reading time)Share This
There is a relationship between information security and home security. A thief or unscrupulous visitor in your home could easily walk away with all types of information that could be very useful in this age of computers everywhere and the Internet. So here are some precautions to take to help yourself, your family, friends and loved ones, stay safe.
1) There are a few steps to take to help protect the information you have stored on your home computer. Begin by making sure you are the only person who has access to your log in information. Then ask a professional to help you install a good security system or install one for you. There are several different types of programs and software on the market, so check around, do a little research and see what fit into your budget.
Share This
This is truly the information age and the need to pass information is constantly growing. Internet shopping is expanding rapidly, as is the concept of online banking, credit cards and financial sites such as PayPal. With this increase in financial information being sent over the World Wide Web, it’s really no wonder that we’ve also seen an increase in identity fraud and identity theft. Information about people, including their personal, work and credit information is easily accessed by anyone who has access to just some of your personal information. Most of that information comes from bank and credit card statements and other mail, both email and postal mail, that you dump without worrying about.
This is a preview of
9 Steps To Protect Yourself From Identity Fraud
.
Read the full post (790 words, estimated 3:10 mins reading time)Share This
How can you really help ensure that you know what is on your credit report? How do you know what your credit score is? How can you really make sure that someone is not using your information without your knowledge or even consent? Sometimes it is very difficult and identity theft is never an easy situation to deal with. The financial damage can become astronomical quite quickly.
Share This
A credit report is information about each person that is used by financial institutions to determine whether or not to give you credit. A credit report contains vital personal information about a person as well as employment information and credit use information. Your credit report is given to anyone who asks for it when they have your permission, primarily banks and other lending institutions who are considering giving you a loan or a mortgage.
Share This
Credit fraud has always existed to some degree, but with the advent of the internet, there has been an unprecedented level of awareness and consumer concern about falling victim to identity theft. Almost every day ‘phishing’ emails - which pretend to come from banks - try to extract passwords and personal details from consumers.
Most people know that an unprotected PC can be disabled by viruses and Trojans within hours and install antivirus software to protect it, but not everyone remembers to keep the antivirus software up to date. Tightening up on internet security is absolutely essential as a first defence to identity theft attempts. As an alarm system, it’s equally sensible to use a credit report monitoring service, to ensure that a consumer can quickly identify any unexpected credit check being made against them, or any new account being opened without their knowledge. This is often the first sign that identity theft has been committed. What is often not understood is that effective internet security and annual credit report monitoring is available completely free to UK consumers.
We’re in an era where fear of falling victim to identity fraud is at an all time high but by educating consumers and businesses, the risks can be much reduced, and the ways of protecting ourselves can all be had for free.
To identify potential victims of identity theft, criminals are often reported to search through rubbish bins or to abuse the public availability of electoral roll registers and analysing them for names and addresses of those identities they would like to steal.
In reality criminals don’t need to get their hands dirty or even leave their homes to commit identity theft. They only have to look on social networking websites such as Friends Reunited and track down the addresses of potential identity theft victims using websites that publish electoral roll details such as 192.com. It really is worth thinking about removing your personal details from such sites, or at least weighing up the risks and the benefits of subscribing to social networking sites, in particular to ration critical information such as place of birth. Any identity fraud criminal, based anywhere in the World, can lawfully obtain a birth certificate from a government website, armed with your place of birth.
Many consumers don’t realise that identity theft is routinely used by drug smugglers, people traffickers, prostitution racketeers and in other forms of serious crime. Most believe that the main issue arising from identity theft is credit fraud, where credit is obtained by impersonation. Many loans and credit cards can be obtained without ever having a face-to-face meeting with the service provider. And credit fraud is where consumers appear to have the greatest fear of falling victim to identity theft.
Once upon a time, credit reports were only sought by those who were declined credit, and were delivered slowly by mail. Nowadays, anyone can request a personal credit check and this can be obtained more securely and instantly online. By obtaining an annual credit report which now can be obtained entirely for free and, importantly, without having to disclose your card details, it is easy to spot any suspicious activities or irregularities.
An annual credit report will quickly reveal signs of attempted and successful credit fraud. It will show searches being made in relation to applications for credit in your name, changes of address and any new accounts opened. One free annual credit report service also offers free specialised identity theft prevention and assistance services to help you stay safe, alongside, providing independent and expert advice.
Permanent link to this post (594 words, estimated 2:23 mins reading time)
Share This
CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK
If you think, “I don’t need that” than just think about this.
Just a little about me. I am a Captain for one of the largest jet charter companies in the United States, and have been flying professionally now for 10 years. I have spent 20+ years training to be a professional pilot, and I made sure I did everything to achieve that and, more over, to make sure that I did not ruin it.
This is a preview of
Identity Theft Is On The Rise And If You Dont Believe It Take It From Me - I Almost Lost My Job!
.
Read the full post (508 words, estimated 2:02 mins reading time)Share This
While no doubt you have heard of different types of identity theft, you may not have heard a great deal about social security number theft. Most of the time when you think of identity theft you think of someone stealing your credit card number or other financial information. Although this can be dangerous and cause a myriad of problems, social security number theft is even worse.
What is Social Security Number Theft?
Share This
The crime of identity theft continues to rise, according to recent reports. One interesting aspect of those reports is that the crime is not limited to the major metropolitan areas, but seems to be equally as rampant in smaller cities and even in rural areas, and in fact, identity theft seems to be increasing in rural areas at rates faster than the metropolitan areas.
This is a preview of
Studies Indicate Identity Theft Continues To Rise
.
Read the full post (692 words, estimated 2:46 mins reading time)Share This
