The Menace of Identity Theft

Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the world today. When identity information is stolen, it can be credit card information, name, address, bank account information and other personal information related to a person. For US residents , information like social security number is also stolen. Hence it is very important to learn the ways thieves get to steal your personal information whenever you are connected to the internet.

Information of users can be stolen in an organisation by hacking of data base. It can also be stolen by an insider thief accessing confidential files; this can be personally carried out because of ulterior motives or being paid by an outsider. Users can also be hacked personally from their own end. Personal user identity theft can happen through email diversion, it can also occur by skimming; entering bank account or credit card information when purchasing and also when users enter personal information on a clone website of a known organisation; this is term phishing.

Once once identity information has been stolen, the thief can do anything with it which might cause harm to the original owner. Most times these thieves use the information to carry out criminal activities. Identity information can be guided against by taking some security precautions like email protection, protecting your smartphones and computers and by reporting when necessary.