Identity theft is a very lucrative crime and the thieves can make money by using the information themselves or can sell it on the black market.  Either way, the identity thief makes money and out identity has been stolen.  On the internet in cyber world identity theft can happen in many ways.  The front runner in cyber world identity theft is Phishing.  This is a way of trying to gain access to private information.  They are especially trying to get Social Security numbers, usernames, passwords, and credit card numbers.  This type of scam is happening all over the world and is very common in East Asian and African countries. When it happens overseas, it is sometimes difficult, maybe even impossible to track down and prosecute the thieves.  Most of the Phishing scams are operated via the email.

Identity theft scams can also happen over the phone and one of the more popular ones that are happening right now is called the jury duty scam.  The identity thief will call someone randomly and tell them that they missed jury duty, and there is a possibility that a warrant will be issued for their arrest because of it.  They then tell this person that they can fix it and have the warrant dismissed if they will provide them with some information such as the person’s Social Security number.  All they want is that Social Security number.

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It is all over the news about data breaches happening in some of the biggest named companies.  Even if the site has the encryption symbol stating that your data is encrypted and safe, data breaches can still happen.  Two of the big companies that have recently made headline news about data breaches are Sony’s PlayStation Network or Sony Online Entertainment and Michael’s Craft Stores.

When a data breach happens it can affect just as few hundred people like at Michael’s Craft Stores or millions of people like the data breach at Sony Online Entertainment.

Data breaches can happen in a variety of ways.  At one company, configuration errors left sensitive data open to the web on a publicly accessible database.  Another data breach happened because of a Phishing attack.

How a data breach can affect you depends on what information was compromised and what they identity thieves will do with the information they stole.  Information that was compromised can range from email addresses to credit and bank account numbers, which is the worse type of data breach that can happen.

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The normal steps that you take to protect yourself from becoming a victim of identity theft and your computer from being hacked like using anti-virus software and firewall protection will also help protect you from Phishing scams.  In addition, at times there are signs that hint at the work of a phisher in an email you might receive and on their web pages.

Some of those signs can include:

• When you receive an email, there is a generic greeting like “Hello sir/mam.  If the email is supposed to be from a legitimate site like a bank, a credit card company, or legitimate website, they would address the recipient by their full name.  You do need to be aware that there are some phishers that have moved up to spear Phishing, which uses a more personalized greeting.
• Beware if the email has threats to your account or makes requests for some type of immediate action.  Some of those requests for immediate actions might include reply in three business days or your account will be suspended.  Businesses want your business and they are not going to send out such a demand and take the chance on losing you as a customer.
• The email asks for personal information, some of which the company that says they need it already has what they are asking for.  There are very few, if any, businesses that will ask for any type of personal information by email or phone.

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When you speak or hear of identity thieves, do you really know who these identity thieves are?  Are they one person or a gang?  Identity thieves fall into different categories and each one has specific signs or characteristics and you have to guard against them differently.

Identity Theft Rings

These identity theft rings may pull together several individuals to collect very useable information.  Some of these individuals maybe called card skimmers, dumpster divers or mailbox snoopers.  Together they work to get information to a couple of individuals.  The people who are targeted by identity theft rings become victims very quickly.  The reason for this is that is already a market for this type of information.

The identity theft rings can use this information that they collect to commit financial theft, criminal identity theft, and social security fraud.  There is a much greater chance on the latter two happening than the first.  This is largely because of illegal immigrants who need this information to stay in the United States and obtain a job.  It does not matter to them if it is legal or not.  Victims who have data breaches that involved in insurance and medical have the highest risk of medical
identity theft.

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Phishing scams can go by many different names but phishing is the most common name used.  There are over a hundred different scams in this category but you can avoid being trapped into one of these scams by using a few common-sense rules.

Financial Organizations

The first, and most important, rule to remember is that these types of organizations will not contact you by email if they need to discuss financial matters.  You may get an e-mail asking you to apply for a loan with a certain financial institution, or use a certain investment firm, but the actual legitimate business is stone done in person, on the phone, and fax.  Never respond to an e=mail from a financial institution with an e-mail containing personal information.

Phone

Do not give your credit card number or personal information over the phone.  The only exceptions to the rule are if the call is originated by you, you know the person on the other end, and you feel safe giving this information over the phone.  If you are not certain then ask for a number for you to call them back.  Before you call the number they gave you, call the business they say they represent and ask if that person works for them, and if necessary tell the business why you are asking.  If they say yes, they do work there make sure that you feel confident that your information is going where it should go to.  If the person does not work there, you have a phone number to give to the local law enforcement force to track down the criminal.

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