1. Identity Theft: The stealing of a person’s financial information, esp. credit cards and Social Security number, with the intention of using that data to commit fraud and create a phony persona
2. Some identity thieves sift through trash bins looking for bank account and credit card statements; other more high-tech methods involve accessing corporate databases to steal lists of customer information.
3. They can transfer all all money of your bank account to theirs.
4. The total loss to business and individual victims for all types of reported identity theft–both new account and existing account frauds is almost $53 billion dollars annually. More specifically, business victims experienced a total loss of $47.5 billion or an average of $4,800 per business victim per year. Individual victims account for a total loss of $5 billion and $500 per victim annually.
5. It depends on how careful you are with the information you give.
6. The victim of an identity theft will be without money or identity because they’ve stolen it
7. The information that is ussually taken by a theft is names, date of birth, Social Security number, Social Insurance Number, current
and former addresses are some common data taken.
8. This information can be obtained by:
a. Dumpster Diving: They rummage through trash looking for bills or other paper with your personal information on it.
b. Skimming: They steal credit/debit card numbers by using a special storage device when processing your card.
c. Phishing: They pretend to be financial institutions or companies and send spam or pop-up messages to get you to reveal your personal information.
d. Changing Your Address: They divert your billing statements to another location by completing a change of address form.
e. Old-Fashioned Stealing: They steal wallets and purses; mail, including bank and credit card statements; pre-approved credit offers; and new checks or tax information. They steal personnel records, or bribe employees who have access.
f. Pretexting: They use false pretenses to obtain your personal information from financial institutions, telephone companies, and other sources. For more information about pretexting, click here.
9. Some ways to prevent yourself from being a victim is securing your information with passwords and never saying anybody which is your password.
10. If you have been a victim of identity theft you should File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, close the accounts that you know, call the police. For the next time try not to make the same mistake.!
INFORMATION TAKEN FROM:
(http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/consumers/about-identity-theft.html)
(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/identity%20theft)
