Online Identity Theft

Online Identity Theft: The New Menace

There is more to using your computer than contending with computer viruses because a new emerging and bigger threat is causing a lot of concern to those who spend a lot of time in front of their computer screens. This rapidly mushrooming threat is none other than online identity theft that is believed to be the fastest growing of all crimes in the US – online as well as offline.

Under Threat

So, each time that you switch on your computer you will be under threat that you might become victim of online identity theft. It is common knowledge that identity theft refers to the act of unlawfully gaining access to your private and confidential information such as your name, address, bank account number and information, social security number and date of birth. When this information is stolen it can be used for various acts that can leave the victim of online identity theft wondering just what has hit them.

The next time that you go online you will need to be very careful about who sees your personal information; when making online purchases you need to be sure of the company that you are buying from. It means dealing only with reputable online companies and only those that have secured WebPages into which you will be entering your personal information. The best way of ascertaining that a webpage is secure is to look for a padlock symbol in the address of the website and the address should start with “https” and not simply “http.”

A common ploy used by people indulging in online identity theft is duplicating the webpage of some of the better known companies, and in addition, these fraudsters will also try and duplicate information with a few minor changes in order to fool people into entering their personal data that is then captured and used against them.

Yet another means being employed by people engaged in online identity theft is to send spoof emails asking you to divulge your personal details in order to receive a prize or get money that you supposedly won in a lottery.

Unfortunately, today debt is a burden that many more people seem to be carrying as can be seen by the fact that more than one hundred and fifty homeowners in the US are going into foreclosure every three months. Obtaining online credit report identity theft is one way of addressing the increasing menace of identity theft that is reaching epidemic proportions not only in the US but in many other parts of the world as well.

To prevent online identity theft requires that you ensure only providing your personal details to very trusted people and companies and also do so only via a secure webpage; and, you should steer clear of junk emails that are always trying to entrap you into doing something foolish.