You are sitting comfortably at home in front of the television when there is a knock on the door. They respond to this to find a cop with a warrant out for money laundering.
Despite your protestations and apparent innocence, there’s a problem: your digital fingerprints are all over the suitcase. How can that be?
Welcome to the world of identity fraud, the inevitable consequence of identity theft.
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What is identity fraud?
Identity fraud (commonly referred to as identity fraud) occurs when a stolen identity is used to commit fraud. ID fraud is a financial crime in most cases; it takes advantage of the victim’s financial situation to take out loans and other lines of credit on their behalf.
ID fraud also occasionally relies on identity theft. Thanks to the mass identity theft industry that has sprung up around the internet, identity theft is rare these days. Thanks to the many ways to apply for a loan online, this is largely unnecessary.
Identity fraud is often accompanied by money laundering. For example, goods can be paid for with the victim’s money, delivered to an address managed by the thief, and then resold.
How they steal your identity
Before identity fraud can be committed, identity theft must first take place. But how do these criminals get your data?
phishing
Perhaps the main reason behind identity theft is the dual-pronged attack of phishing and spoofing websites.
The game is simple: you receive a message via email, SMS or instant, complete with a link for you to click. So it could be a bank, a credit card, or a dating site in the case of instant messaging.
Following the link will take you to an actual copy (a spoof) of the associated website. You will be asked to sign in or confirm some details. These are recorded and used by scammers to steal your identity.
This scam can also be done over the phone. For example, an unsolicited caller claims to be from your bank and asks you to confirm your login details; these are then used to carry out identity fraud. The scammer could even record the call to play back to an automated login service to gain access.
pickpocketing
The contents of your bag, purse or wallet can be easy prey for an ID card thief. Credit cards, debit cards, your phone, and your social security card can all provide what the identity thief is looking for.
To be on the safe side, only take the cards you need with you. Carry your bag securely across your body and keep cards, wallets, purses and anything else out of sight and reach. Only remove cards when paying for goods.
shoulder surfing
When paying for these goods, be sure to check the proximity of those around you. If a PIN is requested at the checkout or ATM, anyone paying attention can read the code. Then all you have to do is steal your card and use the PIN from the ID card thief.
Cover your PIN when entering it to keep the code private.
Physical Document Theft and Dumpster Diving
You must destroy old bank statements and letters from your bank or card company. All personally identifiable documentation should also be shredded. The reason? All it takes is someone to go through your bins and find valid old documents for your identity to be stolen.
Known as “dumpster diving,” this is a tried and tested way to succeed at identity theft. The best solution is to shred your documents, ID cards and old passports.
The alternative is to simply break into your home and steal important documents. Keep bank records, passports, and other ID documents away to combat this.
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Oversharing on social media
Have you ever shared too much on Facebook? Unfortunately, the answer is probably yes. From photos from day trips, from where you live, from work, from vacations… too much is shared. And with the wrong privacy settings, everyone can learn everything there is to know about you.
Worse still, when you monitor your activity on Facebook, a daily pattern emerges. Criminals could use this to determine when to visit your home and steal those important documents that you haven’t locked away yet.
While over-sharing on Facebook is the main culprit, any social network that encourages you to share every aspect of your life should be used less.
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Save credit card number online
When you shop online at stores like Amazon, there’s a good chance you store your credit card information on your account. This saves time at the checkout and helps reduce shopping time. It also saves you from having to find your wallet, pull out the card, and then punch in the 16-digit number, your name, and the CVV2 code on the back.
But storing your credit card online can be risky. All it takes is the online store to be hacked. If your data is not stored in encrypted form, you can also access your credit card details. This can result in credit card fraud or outright identity fraud.
Take identity theft seriously
Your life is literally out of your hands if you don’t take steps to keep your accounts safe. But you don’t need to be afraid of that. Treat digital security like home or car security. They lock doors and windows, install an immobilizer and maybe an alarm system.
Universal vigilance is required to avoid the tricks and traps set up by scammers. Luckily, you can take many of the same steps. For example, lock down your accounts with two-factor authentication to prevent unauthorized access. Set up SMS or email alerts to let you know when spending gets out of control. And sign up for credit monitoring services to capture any new accounts that may have been created on your behalf.
The key is to take identity theft seriously, otherwise there will undoubtedly be ID fraud.
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