Identity theft has been a growing problem in the United States. Each year there are more and more cases of identity theft and the issues seems to have no end in sight. Identity theft is a crime in the eyes of the government and it is where someone obtains someone else's personal information, such as social security and credit card numbers, and uses it to either steal money, make purchases, or gain other "benefits."
There are various categories of identity theft. One category is financial ID theft. This is broken down into two parts: victim established account access and perpetrator established accounts. Victim established accounts are when the thief pretends to be the existing account holder in order to obtain his or her funds. Perpetrator Established Accounts are when the thief opens a new account with stolen information. The second category is identity cloning and concealment which is when a perpetrator impersonates someone through the use of stolen information and uses the new identity to conceal themselves from authorities. Criminal identity theft is when a thief obtains personal information in order to create an ID card and when the person identifies him or her self to the authorities, they use their "new" name, concealing their true identity. Synthetic identity theft is the hardest form of theft to trace because here, a thief will commonly combine a real social security number with a name and birth date, creating a new persona. And finally medical identity theft occurs when someone uses a someone elses name and sometimes other parts of their identity, like insurance information, without their consent to receive medical services.
There are various ways that an identity thief can obtain personal information and steal an identity. ID thieves are often very witty and think of various ways to obtain this information like going through people's garbage and mail, pick pocketing, eavesdropping, mailing change of address forms to a new residence, and impersonating someone else. Thanks to technology, these thieves have a new medium that gives a variety of new and creative ways to retrieve this information. By using computers, thieves are able to research databases to find out addresses, and telephone numbers.
One of the most popular ways that enables thieves to commit such and awful crime like ID theft is online shopping. Online shopping has been one of the most useful technological advancements of our time. Through online shopping, people are able to purchase anything from cars to groceries all by the click of a mouse. However, it is not as safe as handing cash over to a cashier at your local supermarket. In order to purchase items online, one must give a name, shipping/billing address, phone number, email address, and a form of payment. Typically, the way in which people pay for things online is by entering in a credit/debit card number and or bank account/routing number. Once this information is inputted into the computer, it becomes stored in a data base. If the site you have just purchased from is not a secure website, which is a site that uses encryption and authentication standards to protect the confidentiality of web transactions, then your personal information will be available to anyone who chooses to look for it. The most common season for identity theft crimes committed through the use of online shopping is, you guessed it, Christmas. During the holiday season, online retailers offer aggressive pricing in a tough economy that attracts consumers to by their products on the Internet. The Friday and Monday after Thanksgiving are among the top days of ID theft online due to the overwhelming amounts of online shoppers within these two days.
Statistics show that even though online identity theft case numbers are rising, low-tech methods for stealing personal information are still the most popular. Stolen wallets and physical documents accounted for 43% of all identity theft, while online methods accounted for only 11%. However, there are over 10 million identity theft victims in the US each year with an identity stolen every 4 seconds. In ID cases, 71% of the fraud happens within a week of stealing a victim’s personal data. Victims also spend an average of 600 hours recovering from this crime with an average recovery cost of $8,000.
Ways to secure your online shopping experience:
-Make sure you are doing business with a legitimate company
-Make sure you are using a secure website: indicated by “//https:” in the beginning of the address, and a locked padlock icon on the web browser
-Keep photocopies of the order
-Read the fine lines
-Note the return and or exchange policy
-Read the Web Site’s Privacy and Security Policies
-Disclose only necessary information needed to complete your order
-Track your order through government/postal service sites
-Be Cautious with “Electronic Signatures”
-Do not use debit cards for on-line shopping
- Use a credit card that you designate for online shopping only which makes it easier to recognize fraudulent purchases
-Never send a check to pay for a purchase
-Obtain a confirmation number
-Read the shipping rules to find out who pays for shipping
-Confirm that they do not share your information with other companies
-Keep a photocopy of your order, the mailing address and phone number of the company, and the confirmation of your order
-Keep your computer protection programs, such as firewall, anti-virus, and anti-spy ware software updated
How can you tell if you are a victim of identity theft?- Look for changes in bank accounts
-If you fail to receive bills or other mail, this may be a signal of an address change by the identity thief
-You receive credit cards, statements, and billings for which you did not apply
-You are denied credit for no apparent reason
-You receive calls or letters from debt collectors or businesses about merchandise or services you did not buy
