You don't have to be wealthy to be a target. Identity theft is an equal opportunity crime, and can strike regardless of your age, race or gender. Here's a list of the most frequent way identity theft happens.
Mail Theft:
Maybe your'e the type of efficient person who puts his or her mail out, and raises the red flag in the evening before going to bed. It is used to be you raise the red flag to let the mail know you have mail. Now your letting theives know you have important documents in your box.
Dumpster Diving:
Sometimes, credit card slips and loan or credit card applications are finished from the trash. By filling out a credit a credit application, an imposter can change the victims name and identifying information and have it sent to another address.
Account Takeover:
This occurs when someone aquires your account information. Then he or she will contact your credit card company and change the address on your account. Next, they call and report your card lost or stolen and request a new card replacement. The new card is then sent to the new address. Account take over is one of the most common forms ofidentity theft. It doesn't require the technology of a counterfeit card, or the waiting time of a fraudulent application.
Shoulder Surfing:
Without you realizing it, your phone conversations could be overheard while your'e conducting personal buisness. Also, while your'e focused on an ATM transaction, someone could be zeroing in asyou enter your PIN number and you might even know it.
People We Know:
More than half of all identity theft is commited by criminals that have established relationships with their victims, such as family members, roomates, neighborhoods, or co-workers. here's an example: John worked as a part-time bookeeper for Dr. Stone, an ophthalmologist. As part of his job, John recieved cash and checks from patients. After a while, he began to divert tens of thousands of dollars into a checking account in a neighboring town using Dr. Stone's name. He began to impersonate dr. Stone and ordered eyeglasses and equipment for a new eye clinic using Dr. stone's credit profile, license, etc. He hired staff and even continued to work as a part-time bookeeper while diverting the funds he needed. Dr. Stone only learned of the identity theft when john's buisness began to fail and creditors started to harass the doctor.
High-Tech Thievery:
During a recent U.S. Senate subcommitee hearing, Senators were told how easy it is to get a fake driver's license, Socila Security card or birth certificate on the Internet. Subcommittee members displayed some fake IDs obtained through web sites-including some showing Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the head of the subcommittee, as a reporter, a U.S. Army reservist and a student at Boston University. the fake credentials claimed she lived in florida, Wyoming, Connecticut, and Michigan. Officials told the Senators that 30 percent of all fake identification documents now come from the Internet, up from less than 5 percent two years earlier. Law officials sat the crime is remarkably east to perpetrate and experts say virtually anyone with a computer can learn how to steal someone else's identity in an hour.
