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Identity Theft and Credit Card Fraud
Identity theft, or identity fraud, is the deliberate assumption of another person's identity, usually to gain access to their finances or frame them for a crime. Less commonly, it is to enable illegal immigration, terrorism, espionage, or changing identity permanently. It may also be a means of blackmail, especially if medical privacy or political privacy has been breached, and if revealing the activities undertaken by the thief under the name of the victim would have serious consequences like loss of job or marriage.
Identity theft is usually the result of serious breaches of privacy. Except for the simplest credit-related cases, it is usually not possible without breakdowns in: (1) customer privacy, in which case the consequences may be limited to fraud on one corporation, typically the one that leaked the data in the first place, e.g. account numbers (2) consumer privacy, more serious, where credit card numbers or other generally-useful identity data are stolen and used much more widely (3) client confidentiality and political privacy, making it easy to effectively impersonate someone, by using confidential information that an ordinary impersonator would not have access to. Precautions Against Identity Theft
Mail letters from the post office. In America, where standalone mailboxes are common, install a lock on the box. Check your bank accounts each week online or at an ATM. 70% of identity fraud is detected by the victim, and victims who do so through electronic methods suffer losses of less than 1/8th that of those who rely on paper statements for monitoring account activity. (source: Javelin) Use reliable ATM's at reputable sites only. Watch your surroundings for anything suspicious. If the interior of a bank is closed but an indoor ATM is still accessible with a card, refuse helping any stranger to enter. Look for any suspicious attachments to any ATM that may steal information. If in doubt, do not use the ATM but report the problem. Watch your surrounding when entering sensitive codes of information at an ATM or on a telephone keypad. Enter sensitive things with touch-tone but not voice entry. Hide what you type on a keypad from others. Do not use wireless phones or cellular phones to talk about sensitive information. Use a wired phone connected to the ground or encrypted Internet access. Shred credit-card receipts, used checks, junk mail and other such documents, as they may contain private information. Never give out personal information in response to telemarketers and delete all e-mails that claim to be from your bank (or other financial provider) and ask you to "log in" using a hyperlink embedded in the e-mail message. If in doubt as to the legitimacy of such requests, use a telephone to call marketers or financial providers back (rather than directly responding to the telemarketer or company that called or emailed you). When shopping online, make sure the company is reputable and displays an approved security symbol. Also, make sure you log out of the site when finished. Watch your surroundings when using a credit card at any checkout counters or any similar places as some identity thieves use cell phones with cameras to steal others' credit card numbers and expiration dates. This is why certain stores now prohibit taking pictures and videos without consent. If you are a target, keep copies of police reports and records of who you talked to and when, so that you can back up the claim of fraud. Individuals who consider themselves at higher risk of identity fraud should consider purchasing fee-based credit monitoring services, which will notify you of any new accounts or credit inquiries made on your behalf. Limit the amount of personal information you publish on the web. Small fragments here and there may be enough for someone to impersonate you in many ways. Be especially careful with information used as security keywords for banks, e.g. mother's maiden name, and give your bank a different word instead of the real maiden name. Don't divulge personal information such as date of birth to organizations that have no need of it - nearly all commercial organizations. Don't routinely carry identity documents unless obliged by law to do so. Do not allow anyone to copy your identification documents. If commercial organizations require you to submit a copy as a condition of doing business, either don't do business with them, or retrieve the copy when your business ends, along with a written statement that they have not taken further copies should be obtained. If someone calls you claiming to be from a financial institution you do business with asking for personal information - do not give it to them. Ask them why they want the information, hang up, and then call the institution using contact information from a source other than the caller. Don't order checks preprinted with your driver's license or social security number. If you can keep your address off them, do so. Don't carry your social security card unless absolutely needed. Don't give out the number unless it is absolutely necessary or legally required. In states where your driver's license number is your social security number, be equally careful about who sees your license.
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