Avoiding Identity Theft

Identity theft doesn't usually mean someone steals one's identity and then goes off to a faraway place and lives her/his life impersonating and running up bills in their name. The practical meaning of identity theft is somebody that uses another person's name, credit card or credit rating. Sometimes list of the bills is so long. Taking out house mortgages under somebody else's name and then flipping the house is also consider a case of identity thieves.

One type is criminal identity theft. Criminals slipping inside the shoes of an innocent person and providing all his information for escaping troubles keeping him in the clear is called criminal identity threat.The magnitude of trauma and hassle depend on the intensity of offense brought against the victim. He will have to find the actual arresting officer and prove his real identity. The troubles crop up suddenly for the victim which leaves him startled.

There are many different techniques used to obtain a person's identity. Access of publicly published official data sheets by government officials. Use of USB sticks and other computerized devices like PC and also Servers. Skimming information from bank through credit card and other documents. Breaching in browser security an use of malicious software like Trojans to steal information. Spam mailing for bogus job offers. Observing the user's typing to steal name, password etc. Low security protected social sites hacking.

In these days one's social security number is very easy to achieve. All a crook needs is an account with an information broker online and one's name and address. Then, give victim's social security number and a little additional information like DOB. Now all fields are set for identity theft. The thief can set up all kinds of charge accounts in victim's name, arranging to have the bills sent to a phony address so that it will take longer to catch on to what's happening.

One of the most common forms of is medical identity theft. It involves snatching away of insurance details and launching false claims. The medical officers possessing inappropriate information of such scrupulous clients can land themselves in serious trouble. Child identity theft is when the social security numbers of the children are best bets for the imposter as there are no details of the children present and the crime goes undetected for years until the child grows up.


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