Many victims of identity theft speak about how shocking the incident was to them, the lasting ramifications on their good names and the fact that they simply didn’t see it coming. This is not a strange reaction. Most people are fairly trusting of the people and general commercial environment around them. This is not a bad thing. What would life be like if we mistrusted every stranger we meet or every document we put our name on. Unfortunately though, criminals look just like everybody else. A recent statistic has shown that up to 43% of victims believed that their identities were stolen by people they knew. This shocking statistic proves two facts. 1. It could definitely happen to you and 2. There is a good chance, in the unfortunate event of it happening, that it will be somebody you already know. The primary reason for this disconnect between people not seeing it coming and it happening all the time is the way human beings are hard wired. We are social creatures. Human beings are “pack animals” who are dependant on one another for communication, security and loads of other benefits. Living in modern society has certainly not minimised this fact. Although you do not know every single person living in your street by name, you greet them because you recognise their faces, see them daily and observe them in their everyday lives. Somewhere in the back of your mind you know, if there’s an emergency, you could at least depend on them to call the police, if not come to your aid. You know this because you feel the same unconscious obligation to do the same if the situations were reversed. These are important instincts that are necessary to co-exist with other human beings. Unfortunately, we have to face the facts that if you know 300 people, at least 5 of them have been or are in the process of criminal activities. With rising identity theft statistics, at least two of those may be identity thieves and if you make regular contact with them the risk becomes immanent.

Total identity protection is impossible. Once your social security number and contact details have been inputted into a bank computer for example, you have no control over its safety from that point on. There are ways however of minimising the risk to you and your family. If you cultivate good security habits, your identity will be safer and it needn’t affect your attitude towards the people around you. There are various different types of identity theft. Mostly, it is the use of a stolen name and social security number to obtain credit, goods or services. By having a good handle on your credit cards and bank balances and checking them at least once a week, you will immediately detect if something strange is going on. Online fraud is covered extensively on all banking and government websites. Take the time to familiarise yourself with good security practices to avoid being a victim of phishing. Also, avoid putting any personal data on open, social networking sites such as Facebook or Myspace. Finally, pay careful attention to the paperwork that you throw into your rubbish bin. Bank and utility bills and statements often contain your name, address, contact information and social security number. That’s not even to mention your account details and existing balance. Information like this is gold to an identity thief, who will not be above “dumpster-diving” to obtain it. Invest in a shredder or start exploring the exiting applications of paper pulp in your home.

Identity theft takes many forms, not least of all, online identity theft. Although it is more difficult to avoid identity theft in real life, there are many online practices that can be followed to avoid internet identity theft. Firstly, it is important to understand why your identity might be stolen online. The rewards for criminals are almost always financial. Whether it’s simple credit card fraud or a more complicated process of obtaining a cell phone contract or other goods and services on your name, the goal of the thief is simple. Use your information as soon as possible, use as much as possible and disappear as quickly as possible. This modus operandi is the unfortunate cause of many victims never finding any kind of justice. Companies worldwide lose millions per year in restitutions to victims who were able to prove that they did not purchase goods online. If you want to get an idea of how easy it is for a thief to obtain information about you, merely Google your own name. If it is a common name, you may have to dig around a bit to find yourself. If it is uncommon, you will probably find some rather shocking results. It is therefore important to cultivate good online security habits.

Web 2.0:

Social networking sites may have brought us closer to old school friends and long lost family members, but it is important not to get too chatty about your personal information on public posts such as Facebook, Myspace or Twitter. Do not put your address (home or work), contact number, social security number or any similar information online. Create an offsite e-mail address through Gmail or Yahoo and use that as your point of contact.

Falling for the Look:

Banks and similar legally run companies will never send you an e-mail requiring your account details, updates on personal information and certainly not your PIN codes or account details. Never follow a link to one of these sites directly from the e-mail either. Just because it looks like the proper company because of the logo, doesn’t mean that it is. Similarly, when going to your banking website, keep an eye on the browser before filling in your details. If the URL in that browser changes for any reason before you have entered your info, exit and call the bank.

Home data storage:

Whenever you go online, your computer is vulnerable to hacks and programmes that are built to come in and have a look around. Most firewalls and anti-virus programmes are built to protect your computer from these attacks, but sometimes, they slip through and have a few minutes before being detected. Never mark files on your PC with phrases like “banking” or “finance”. If you must keep a file of your credit card numbers or similar financial details, password protect the document with a non-dictionary word and if possible, use a code that does not include anything bank related. Also, “password” is not a clever password. It’s the first one anyone will try. Choose passwords which include numbers and symbols along with letters.

The rewards for criminals are almost always financial. Whether it’s simple credit card fraud or a more complicated process of obtaining a cell phone contract or other goods and services on your name, the goal of the thief is simple. Use your information as soon as possible, use as much as possible and disappear as quickly as possible. This modus operandi is the unfortunate cause of many victims never finding any kind of justice. Companies worldwide lose millions per year in restitutions to victims who were able to prove that they did not purchase goods online. If you want to get an idea of how easy it is for a thief to obtain information about you, merely Google your own name. If it is a common name, you may have to dig around a bit to find yourself. If it is uncommon, you will probably find some rather shocking results. It is therefore important to cultivate good online security habits.

Web 2.0:

Social networking sites may have brought us closer to old school friends and long lost family members, but it is important not to get too chatty about your personal information on public posts such as Facebook, Myspace or Twitter. Do not put your address (home or work), contact number, social security number or any similar information online. Create an offsite e-mail address through Gmail or Yahoo and use that as your point of contact.

Falling for the Look:

Banks and similar legally run companies will never send you an e-mail requiring your account details, updates on personal information and certainly not your PIN codes or account details. Never follow a link to one of these sites directly from the e-mail either. Just because it looks like the proper company because of the logo, doesn’t mean that it is. Similarly, when going to your banking website, keep an eye on the browser before filling in your details. If the URL in that browser changes for any reason before you have entered your info, exit and call the bank.

Home data storage:

Whenever you go online, your computer is vulnerable to hacks and programmes that are built to come in and have a look around. Most firewalls and anti-virus programmes are built to protect your computer from these attacks, but sometimes, they slip through and have a few minutes before being detected. Never mark files on your PC with phrases like “banking” or “finance”. If you must keep a file of your credit card numbers or similar financial details, password protect the document with a non-dictionary word and if possible, use a code that does not include anything bank related. Also, “password” is not a clever password. It’s the first one anyone will try. Choose passwords which include numbers and symbols along with letters.

There is a lot of speculation as to how criminals obtain enough personal data to fraudulently get a loan on our names (among various other criminal activities). We often feel that the systems in place, such as signatures, passwords, pin codes and security clearance codes should protect us from these and similar criminal activities. We often underestimate the resourcefulness of criminals, assuming that they are not as bright as we are. This is a grave mistake. We forget that they spend all day thinking up new ways to breach our security, whereas we only spend a few minutes a week, maybe taking a cursory glance at the alarm system and testing it from time to time. This makes us very vulnerable and criminals count on that vulnerability.

As is often said, the best form of defense is prevention. We need to know the facts, arm ourselves from possible breeches. If people can start forming naturally cautious habits, then there needn’t even be a mentality of paranoia. The best way to become less vulnerable is to start by knowing the facts. How do criminals obtain enough information about us to steal our identities?

Online:

There is no doubt that one of the major factors in obtaining information is how easy it is to get. In other words, the easier it is to find the info, the more likely it will be found by the wrong people. Social networking sites, personal websites and online forms are no place to post too much information. Never put your home address, family information, personal telephone details or even work details online. This is the easiest way for criminals to steal identifiable information of individuals. They needn’t do much to obtain it. Google your own name and see what comes up.

Real Life:

There is a practice that is so common it has its own term. This is known as “dumpster diving.” It describes the rather unpleasant process of going through somebody’s trash to obtain personal information. This often comes in the form of bank or account statements, credit card updates, utility bills etc. Once again, if it is easy to find, criminals are more likely to find it. Shredding machines have become quite common and can be purchased at the same cost as a microwave at most large retail stores. If there is no other alternative, burn or pulp the paper so that it is illegible. Tearing it up is not always the most reliable way, but is a deterrent.

There are many additional ways including “phishing” which your bank will almost certainly have warned you against and the all too common eavesdropping while you are in the process of concluding a transaction in public. The watchwords are caution. If you are imparting sensitive information in a public place, rather write it down. Keep personal information online to an absolute minimum (create a separate e-mail address for “online activities”).

The more we understand the mindsets of criminals, the better prepared we are to protect ourselves. Always remember that the more difficult your information is to obtain, the less likely it’ll be abused.

Some shocking recent statistics have shown that up to 19% of identity theft victims only discover the criminal activities 4 years after it began. It may seem impossible to those of us who have not experienced this horrible and invasive form of crime, but it cannot always be prevented. For this reason, there are a lot of people out there who believe that they have covered their bases with good security measures, only to find that strange things are starting to happen.

Mail:

One of the major forms of identity theft starts with mail. Either mail stops arriving completely, strange mail arrives (i.e. credit cards you didn’t order or bills and statements that aren’t yours). This is usually because somebody who is claiming to be you is re-directing your mail or using an old address of yours to purchase goods on your name.

Credit Card and Bank Statements:

If you start noticing strange charges on your bank accounts and an unusually high amount of balance queries you should get suspicious. Banks will have records of exactly where and when these requests and transactions took place.

You are denied simple loans or credit extensions:

If you have kept a good credit record and for no reason, you suddenly find it impossible to open an account or get any kind of credit, this may be a sign of identity theft.

Strange Comments

Statistics show that up to 42% of identity theft is perpetrated by somebody the victim knew or knows. If somebody you know starts paying an unhealthy interest in your financial status or asking probing questions about your banking institutions and habits, it may be worthwhile to double check your balances and make sure all is in order.

Corporate Breech

There are more clear-cut situations. When a company makes a public statement that some of its account information has been breeched, you will probably be notified directly. This does not necessarily mean that it has been used yet, as this information is often sold a few times after being stolen so as to avoid detection.

Employ the help of a credit monitoring service

There are several companies that can aid in keeping you posted whenever any kind of activity happens in your financial accounts or personal name including applications for credit, address changes and even mail misdirection.

There are times when a person needs to look at the abovementioned factors more diligently, if your car has recently been broken into or you have lost a wallet or even an identity document, drivers licence or passport. As a matter of course though, it is a good idea to keep a close eye on these factors regularly. Make it a point of habit to do a thorough check of your banking statements, the names on unsolicited “junk mail” and strange “misunderstandings” like bad credit terms on new accounts. This may not always be enough to stop identity theft, but it may at the very least give you a head start if you suddenly discover that you may be a victim.

Identity theft is the fastest growing criminal activity in the world. As communication and business becomes more remote, electronically dependant and sophisticated, so criminals have found new ways to exploit something as simple as a name. The identity theft statistics speak for themselves. Recently published data from the Identity Theft Resource Centre has shown some shocking figures in the United States alone.

Up to 18% of victims take longer than 4 years to find out that they have been victims of identity theft.

This in itself is a horrifying thought. Imagine the chilling realisation upon discovering that your credit record, family name and good reputation have been systematically destroyed for the last 4 years.

Victims lose up to $14340 and spend up to $1378 dealing with case related expenses and legal battles.

The threat to personal finances is very real. Not all companies, banking institutions and commercial businesses have insurance or “slush funds” to cover the illegal loss of funds of their customer base. Sometimes, when there has been a large security breech, smaller companies simply declare bankruptcy to avoid paying restitutions to multiple victims.

The long term ramifications are extremely damaging to individual victims. Up to 70% of victims never manage to shake the affects of the damage done to their names and credit records:

In addition, identity fraud statistics have shown that between 19% and 85% of victims struggle to acquire loans or credit after the incident and feel completely unprotected by the police who do not always believe their story when they initially try to report it. Victims experience very real and lasting pressure in their personal or family relationships due to sudden financial problems. The monthly insurance and credit premiums of victims are significantly higher as a result of the damage their reputations have sustained.

Apart from these shocking identity theft statistics, it has been reported that only 1 in 5 victims found it easy or simple to get in contact with a relevant reporting agency. As these figures show, the system is poorly set-up for a crime that is growing exponentially. The best way to avoid becoming a statistic yourself or discovering that your social security number has been used to nefarious ends is to guard the information of that and your family.

There is an unfortunate twist to the statistics that should be borne in mind. Up to 43% of victims believe they know the perpetrators. 16% of victims of identity theft are also victims of domestic abuse. The belief is that in these cases, the identity theft is part of the abusive cycle of power and subservience. That is why, based on the above quoted numbers, it is important to treat personally identifiable information with the same respect and care that you would with your credit card numbers, passwords and PIN codes. It is not information that should be left lying around at parties or near guests you don’t know very well. Similarly, do not tempt those who may have bad intentions by loudly giving sensitive information in public places or throwing utility bills and statements containing this information out in the trash.