Identity Heist

The more we hear about victims of identity theft, the more we are forced to ask ourselves why it seems to be so common... Particularly in the last 5 to 10 years. It's been established that there are several reasons why identities may be useful to predators. Thieves use stolen identities to obtain goods, services, money or evade the law. In increasingly growing cases, the identities of others have been used in terrorist operations and illegal immigration.

The fact is that in the modern world, identity theft is probably one of the easiest and most lucrative forms of crime. In addition, the information that identifies you legally as a person need not be that much. It is the sort of information that you fill on medical forms, banking entry forms, sometimes even competition forms. What compounds the problem is that a lot of information now days is stored and archived online. This is common practice as it makes for easy and fast access by banks, affiliated companies etc. Although it seems like a great risk for such a small benefit, we often forget the speed of modern services are due to these systems. There can be no doubt that the largest amount of identity theft, and the main reason it is becoming so common is the internet. With this in mind it is no wonder that there are several simple techniques that thieves have starting using to obtain your identity.

Internet search engines: The first and easiest method is to simply type a name into Google and see what comes up. There are plenty of people with home-made websites, personal information on company sites or online stored or archived information that just happens not to be protected.
Data Breaches: Government records, financial institutions and similar companies and affiliates spend a vast amount of money yearly to protect archived information such as addresses, credit card details, social security numbers etc. As sophisticated as these systems are, hackers and Trojan horses continue to find their way in. This is very lucrative for the thief as they may obtain thousands of victims and their information. Often, they are simply sold to other predators that find the "active" ones and simply re-sell them to small-time crooks or crime rings.
Web 2.0: Social networking sites such as "Facebook", "Myspace" and Twitter are probably one of the easiest ways to obtain personal information. People very trustingly post their own information and regularly update it. This means that personally identifiable details are almost certainly "fresh" This includes names, phone numbers, home addresses, names of spouses and children etc. This is more than enough information for a predator to find the victims' banking details with a bit of extra online research.

There are plenty of ways that victims lose their identities through "old fashioned" techniques such as bank statements thrown out in the trash or simply being overheard while confirming a registration or transaction. However, the fact remains that online information is the easiest to come by. Thieves do not run the risk of being tracked and can operate from anywhere in the world.

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There are several institutions that have been established to help us understand and identify the key processes to identity protection. The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) in the US pointed to the extreme risks of identity theft in the Senate as early as 1998.

The fact remains, no matter how careful you are with your personal data, you have no control over what companies may do with it, once it is on their databases. Although the government is working on ways to audit and legalise proper information practices, identity protection still remains, to a great extent, the responsibility of the holder. That is, you. As stated before, short of not engaging in any kind of commercial or legal endeavour, it is virtually impossible to completely protect your identity. There are however, ways to minimise the risk.

Online Information:
There are hundreds of ways to gather information online with very little effort on the part of the criminal. A simple search-engine search of your name will reveal exactly how much data you have online. This is often harvested from social networking sites such as Facebook, Myspace, Twitter etc. Apart from your name, you should avoid posting any personal data online. When subscribing to online websites that require certain information, be sure to read the terms and conditions carefully and look for verification information. If an e-mail address is required, create a new one through Yahoo or Gmail. This will also help you figure out who sold your information when the spam e-mails start rolling in.

"Hard-Copy" Information:
Never throw personally identifiable information in the trash. This includes things like credit card statements, utility bills etc. Shred them, burn them or pulp them. Criminals are not too proud to root through the garbage to get that data.

Face Value:
When somebody phones or e-mails you, claiming to be from the municipality, bank, or affiliated company and asks for your personal information DO NOT SUPPLY IT. Ask their name and tell them that you will phone them back, then phone the bank or institution directly and ask for that person. Banks will NEVER send you an e-mail asking for personal details or confirmation of PIN or account numbers. If you are unsure, go to the bank's website directly. NEVER just follow a link from an e-mail. Just because it looks like the right logo and uses big language does not mean that it is legitimate.

We often forget to make use of our instincts. Often, we get a funny feeling about something but ignore it, assuming that we're just being paranoid. It is important to follow those instincts. If you feel uncomfortable imparting your information to a particular person, you have every right to withhold it. The one thing that will always remain your property, after all, no matter what else happens, is your name.
Legally speaking, if your identity is stolen or used fraudulently due to the fault of a company data breech, reparations will be made to you. Unfortunately it becomes a grey area if your identity was lifted due to negligence on your part, and complicity becomes hard to disprove. The phenomenon is still fairly new to law makers and for this reason, there are still some States that don't even have laws against identity theft. For now at least, the onus is on you.

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