E-mail is an especially common way to steal someone’s identity because it is easy to operate, hard to track and in most cases is free. An email may contain a virus or trojan that can help the thief infiltrate the victims hard drive. Once into the hard drive the thief can search for important personal or financial information.The History Of Identity Theft
It is important to stay alert to the threat of identity theft. Regardless of the history of identity theft it is here to stay and by staying vigilant to any potential offense you can save yourself a lot of stress and heartache.
If you reduce identity theft to it’s simplest form it is not really that high tech or complex, but is simply stealing. Even though the Internet has increased the profile of identity theft it goes back well before the Internet. A popular film and book based of the life and times of Frank Abagnale, a conman operating in the 1960s and early 1970s can be seen as an early pointer of things to come. The film was called “Catch Me If You Can”. It dramatizes the way Abagnale performs many scams and cons and the widespread hunt for him. Abagnale would impersonate people like airline pilots, doctors and lawyers that would be perceived as trustworthy in society. He would then commit some form of crime, notably committing bank and check fraud.The History Of Identity Theft
It could be argued that the movie shows the origin of identity theft. This form of crime, confidence tricksters impersonating people in trustworthy professions, eventually developed into modern-day identity theft. Today’s criminals have become far better at it by using technology. For instance, they will use the Internet and email to assume and them manipulate an identity for their own purposes.
Identity theft is very much a modern crime that seems to be gaining more attention as more shopping is done online. The crime is costly to the financial organizations that often pick up the tab for the crime. They ultimately pass many of these costs on to their customers through increased fees and interest rates. However the most damaging affect must be on the victim of the crime, the person whose identity is stolen. Identity theft is the latest incarnation of stealing or thievery that has been with humanity since day one.
Today it is fairly well known that standard precautions for all email are to never open unexpected emails or email from people that you don’t know. If you don’t know the person or the email is obviously spam then delete it without opening. Some email titles are very cunning or intriguing. They will have an re: next to the title so that you think it is a response to one of your mails. It is essential to have the most up to date anti-virus and spyware programs running all the time.
A less technological method but just as effective way to steal someone’s identity is to go through their trash. Never throw away paperwork that shows your social security number, birth date, account numbers, or other information of this nature. If you must do, then get a proper paper shredder or tear up the documents.
For advice on how to protect your identity and ways to prevent identity theft, visit http://www.identitytheftsentry.com/ . Adrian Whittle writes on common identity theft scams like phishing, credit card theft and protective measures like identity theft insurance.
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