Identity Theft Scams

The risk of falling victim to identity theft scams is increasing due to the variety of ways that you can be exposed to it The constant innovation of technology has caused a global increase in the flow of personal and financial information. This reality is providing criminals and identity thieves with more opportunities to steal our identities.

However, identity theft online is not the only way that you can have your personal details stolen.  In fact the vast majority of  popular crimes committed through ID theft and fraud is done the old fashioned way through the mail, garbage and stolen wallets.

In order for you to reduce the risk of you becoming a victim you need to understand and recognize the identity theft scams that are out there and how to avoid them. Below are the most common types of scams:

Online Scams

With more people using the computer and shopping online criminals are focusing their attention on exploiting the vulnerabilities online security. There is a variety of ways that criminals can steal your identity and financial details. Scams you need to watch out for are:

• Phishing scams - This is a common technique used by criminal syndicates to steal peoples identities. They send out an email to huge lists. The email usually makes you believe that it is from a reputable bank such as HSBC.  These emails will ask you to click on a link to update your records.

A common technique used by email scams is to persuade you to give them your bank account details. The email will inform you that the bank is carrying out account maintenance and an error in your account details has been identified and in order to correct the information they will ask you click on a link to update your records.

The link in the email will be worded to make you think that it is the banks website however, if you place your arrow over the link and the url does nor match the words in the link then do not click on it as this is a scam. Banks will never send you and email to update your records online. 

• Email spoofing - this scam is similar to the phishing scam. It involves hackers sending send out suspicious emails under the guise of a reputable company such as a bank. They use special software that hides the true identity of where the email originates from to fool the recipient into thinking that they have received an email from a reputable company such as a bank.

• Spyware  - is often referred to as malicious software that is downloaded on to your website when you land on certain websites. This software then begins to record and store information when you type on your keyboard. These files are also referred to as a keyloggers.

When you connect to the internet the data that has been captured on the spyware is transferred to the criminals server where the information can either be used fraudulently or sold on to criminal syndicates. For this reason it is wise to consider buying spyware protection software that can identify and remove these files from your hard disk.

Offline Scams

Most ID fraud is committed offline rather than online. The following are ways to recognize identity theft in real world situations:

• Credit card skimming - this is one of the most common credit card fraud scams. It involves someone, for example a waiter in a restaurant who electronically copies the data on your credit card onto a portable magnetic strip scanner device. Your card details are then transferred and encoded on to counterfeit credit cards that will be used fraudulently.

• ATM skimming - another common credit card scam is to skim your card at an ATM machine  Criminals attach a magnetic strip scanning device over the card slot. When you put in your card the device captures the data from your card onto the scanner. These devices are designed to look like they are part of the ATM making it very difficult to detect.

• Your mail - the most common ways that your identity can be stolen is through the mail. For example, if you have and an unsecured mail box then you are leaving yourself exposed to ID thieves. They can either steal your mail directly from your mail box or more commonly have your mail redirected to another address.

If you have an external mail box make sure it is secured and that you do not leave mail in it for long periods of time. Rather than have bank and credit card statements sent to you by mail have them sent electronically.

• Nigerian letter scams - these scams originated in the 1970's through the mail and have more recently been targeted online. The basic concept of this scam is a person receiving a letter from the Government department of Nigeria.

The deception is based on a government official who has access to millions of dollars and needs assistance in getting the money out of the country. The only problem is that the official is unable to use their own bank account. They then ask the recipient of the letter if they could transfer the money to their own account and return they will receive a 10 to 30% payment award based on the total amount for their help.

In order for these schemes to work they will require the recipients bank account details to transfer the money. On other occasions they may ask for a deposit in order to release the money. Once they have the banks details they proceed to empty the recipients account.

• Social security fraud - your social security number is the golden grail for Identity thieves. You nine digit number links you to everything from your bank accounts, medical records, employment, tax and so on. If they have your SSN thieves can do a lot of a damages as the opportunities to commit fraud are infinite.