BY REBECCA HIGGINS

Identity Theft

What is Identity Theft?

Identity Theft is when someone illegally steals your personal information, usually for personal financial gain. Your Social Security number, bank account numbers, and personal information are the only thing one needs to commit Identity Fraud. There are many ways someone could find out these things. For example, a theft may dumpster dive, use skimming, or even e-mail or call you acting like they are a bank.

Types of Identity Theft

Child Identity Theft- can’t be used by theft until child is older and has credit accounts or bank accounts

Student Identity theft- easily done because a theft may send an email about an interested college and ask for personal information

Senior Identity Theft- very vulnerable because they are very unaware of online sources and have trouble monitoring their own accounts

Identity theft is quite easy with the following groups:

Current Scams

PhishingPhishing is a scam where

Internet fraudsters send e-mail messages to trick victims into revealing personal and financial information that can be used to steal the victims’ identity. Current scams include phony e-mails which claim to come from the IRS and which lure the victims into the scam by telling them that they are due a tax refund.

More Currant Scams

Doxing The Internet version of social

engineering. ID thieves have become skilled at piecing together your information from social networking sites, then using it to elicit more personal data.

Tips for Avoiding Identity Fraud

Guard financial informationKeep social security number privateKeep your mail safeCheck your credit reports often Stay safe onlineProtect your passwords

Statistics

About 7% of persons age 16 or older were victims of identity theft in 2012.

In 2010 about 8.6 million households had at least one member age 12 or older who experienced one or more types of identity theft.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are there laws against identity theft?Yes. Congress passed the Identity Theft

and Assumption Deterrence Act in 1998. It made stealing someone's identity with intent a federal felony. How much does it cost to repair an

identity theft?Some victims have an easy repair to their

identity fraud, but others have to spend thousands of dollars to fix. Many people have reoccurring fraud. In this case, they should frequently check their credit.

More Frequently Asked Questions

Are businesses at risk of identity theft?Yes thieves could steal from

costumers or break into the companies computer system. Thieves sometimes even steal laptops from the company with personal client information and use this to commit identity theft.

Citations

www.fraud.org/learn/identity-theftwww.trustedid.com/types-of-identity-theft/https://

www.ncjrs.gov/spotlight/identity_theft/facts.html

http://idt911.com/KnowledgeCenter/IdentityTheftFAQ.aspx

http://www.protectmyid.com/faq/http://

www.irs.gov/uac/Suspicious-e-Mails-and-Identity-Theft

http://www.neamb.com/shopping-discounts/you-need-to-know-about-the-latest-id-theft-scams.htm

Picture Citations

www.mlive.comwww.southbostontoday.comwww.homelandsecuritynewswire.comwww.portalsandrails.frbatlanta.orgwww.voices.yahoo.comwww.eclipsepc.comwww.computer.howstuffworks.comwww.cio.com