Identity theft can turn your life upside down. It can ruin your credit, cost you that job opportunity, or worse. Southern Californian Bronti Kelly found that out the hard way. It started when Kelly was repeatedly denied for dozens of jobs for no apparent reason. The few times he was actually hired, it was only days before he was fired. He was ultimately forced to file bankruptcy, lost his apartment. Only after becoming homeless, was Kelly able to piece together what happened. In May of 1990, his pocket was picked while at a comedy club. His identification was then used by a man that was arrested for shoplifting and other crimes. A report of the shoplifting incident wound up in a computer database used by over 100 retail chains to share information about retail employees.
While this is an extreme example, it illustrates how devastating identity theft can be.
Now in the case of Mr. Kelly, it was the theft of his wallet that facilitated his ordeal. There are many more ways for criminals to commit identity theft without ever coming into physical contact with their victims.
Phishing
Nancy Boyle received an email purporting to be from Bank One asking her to verify critical account information to comply with new anti fraud procedures. Later, she received an email from eBay warning of possible fraudulent activity on her account. So she hands over her social security number, her bank account number, and even her mothers’ maiden name! Armed only with this information, the criminals had all they needed to steal Mrs. Boyles’ identity and wreak havoc on her life. She was the victim of an increasingly common scam called phishing.
Wikipedia defines phishing as:
"the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communications.”
Basically, cybercriminals use emails disguised to look like they are coming from legitimate businesses and organizations to trick people into handing over their personal information. A phishing email usually contains a link to a fake website that may closely mimic your banks website, or other popular sites like eBay.
Now that we know what phishing is, lets take a look at just a few ways to protect ourselves.
- Most web browsers have some form of anti-phishing protection built in. Make sure you keep it updated and heed any warning messages.
- Ensure that your anti-virus software is kept up to date
- Be suspicious. Never respond to any unsolicited emails or phone calls that request personal information. Most legitimate companies or organizations will never ask you for passwords or pin numbers.
- Check the address bar. Ensure that websites on which you use confidential information have a secure connection. The http: should change to https:// when a site is secured
- Look out for the padlock in the browser window
- Make sure you check your bank and credit card statements regularly and report any unusual account activity to your bank or card issuer.
For more information , check out the video below:
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