The theft of personal information for criminal purposes, also known as identity theft, has grown exponentially in the last couple of years. This may be due to the fact that the gains from stealing personal information have also increased. With the correct identifying information criminals can gain a hefty sum of money from the fraud and deception used in identity theft.
Credit identity theft is the most common class of identity theft today. This involves criminals using a victim s credit card information to make cash advances and purchases. The theft can occur at home, at the office, or even during innocent outings such as dinners or vacations. These criminals use different methods to get to a victim s credit card information and use them for their criminal intentions.
Identity theft can come in many forms. Some criminals eavesdrop or look over the shoulder of their victims to take their personal information while they are dictating them or writing them down. Some steal mail or redirect mail in order to get to the information sent to the victim by their banks, utilities or other services. Some even go through the trash of their targets to get to discarded documents.
The internet is also a new hunting ground for these thieves. They commit identity theft through malicious unsolicited electronic mail known as spam , they create fake websites that look like legitimate in a technique called phishing , and they create viruses, worms, and malware that harvest personal information automatically from infected computers.
The worst news is that even when the crime has been discovered it can take a lot of time and effort to recover from an identity theft attack. It may even take longer to recover than it took to commit the crimes themselves. This is the worst part of becoming a victim of identity theft.
Because of this the best course of action is take a vigilant stance and commit to preventive measures against identity theft. The United States Department of Justice recommends a SCAM approach to identity theft. S for Stingy means that one should be reluctant in giving away their personal information when it is clearly unnecessary. For example, one can omit details such as their social security numbers on checks and other document if they are not truly needed there. Also being wary of special offers from unknown callers or email senders and other sources that ask for your credit card information can protect you from credit identity theft.
C is for Check is a step towards regular identity theft checks through careful analysis of credit reports and billing statements.
A is for Ask to ask for reports and records from government institutions and financial services whenever possible to see previous access dates and service requests.
M is for Maintain as maintaining your own records of banking and financial activities will help you ensure that you are in control of everything and nothing is being stolen.
By taking a proactive stance against identity fraud you can protect your privacy and your financial security from criminals who are actively seeking to steal them from you.
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This article has been provided by http://www.free-credit-reports.com , where you can compare credit report and identity theft protection services with this comprehensive chart of all credit report and credit score service providers.
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