Identity Theft Overview

The identity theft overview section of this website provides general information about identity theft which you might be interested in. The identity theft articles might describe the identity theft crime, how and why it happens, who commits this crime, and who are the most vulnerable.

Identity fraud and privacy intrusions are the most possible end results of identity theft. The identity theft crime comes in all forms and types and it is committed using the personal information of the victims for various reasons. Such personal information may include a social security number, passport, or a credit card.

An identity crime usually leaves its victims with huge amounts of financial burden, paperwork and even modified and deadly health records. As I indicated, criminals may use your personal information for various reasons such as to get a loan, buy drugs, get expensive medical treatments, and even kill someone in your name. There are many ways thieves can get access to your personal information. They can steal it from your house, wallet, you car, while you travel and even from people you share your information with such as your employer, your accountant and tax preparer, your agent and your lawyer among others. Sometimes, criminals also buy your personal information with hard cash. That's right. Your personal information is so valuable to some people that they will even buy or sell them if they have the opportunity. That’s why; businesses have to be especially prudent about whom they hire and who they let handle business confidential and client or employee personal information. Select and read the identity theft article of your interest below.

Short Video About Identity Theft

Identity Theft Overview Articles

Student Identity Theft - According to past identity theft cases, 22% of students were notified that they were a victim of identity theft. Student identity theft is three times as likely as the average fraud victim.

Identity Theft Insurance - Identity theft insurance is a policy on its own or integrated with some other insurance which allows an identity theft victim to recover some of the recovery costs.

Educating Kids About Information Security - Educating kids about information security and privacy is one of the best things that parents can do for their children before it's too late.

Social Media Identity Theft Dangers - The dangers of social media identity theft are increasing as more people continue to socialize online without understand the risks.

Clicking Email Links - Clicking email links without first validating the source of emails can be devastating and poses great security and privacy risks.

PlayStation Fraud Risks - PlayStation fraud risks for customers of Sony Entertainment Network can be very high and costly which we cover in this article.

Personal Document Photo Backup is one of the best strategies for recovery when personal items are lost, stolen, or misplaced, and forgotten.

Millennial Identity Theft Risks This article discusses the millennial identity theft risks and proposes a few actions to help the Gen Y which includes students to protect themselves against identity theft.

2014 Identity Fraud Report According to the 2014 identity fraud report issued by Javelin Strategy & Research in March of 2015, $16 billion were stolen from 12.7 identity theft victims.
Self Driving Car Security Every indication is that we are headed toward self driving cars. This article discusses the pros and cons of automated cars and self driving car security issues.

Misspelling Risks Website address misspelling risks can arise from even the most minor spelling errors which can lead to typosquatting and phishing for committing identity theft crimes.

Consumer Phishing Scams Consumer phishing scams are increasing and one reason is that these types of scams are very low cost scams which have a great return on investment.
Tax Imposter Scams It is reported that tax imposter scams are on the rise and the reason why this is an effective scam for criminals is because people believe them.
Bank Consolidation Benefits There are many bank consolidation benefits for businesses and consumers as banks continue to merge including reduced operating costs and fees and improved service quality.
Phone Privacy Phone privacy may be optional or forced upon us, however, cell phone users must weigh the benefits and risks of giving up smartphone privacy when they have the option.
Synthetic Identity Theft Synthetic identity theft is a fast growing type of ID theft and occurs when thieves create new identities based on completely made up information or a combination of fake and real information.
Cell Phone Payments Increasing cell phone payments are inevitable because the mobile payment technology will be embraced by consumers and businesses, but, it will also have some implications.
Vehicle Theft Risk The level of a vehicle theft risk as it relates to identity theft depends largely on the contents left in a car at the time when the car is stolen or broken into for the items left in the car.
Medical Identity Theft Awareness Due to the lack of medical identity theft awareness, 50% of people don't know that medical identity theft can place their lives at risk and even cause death.
Work From Home Scams So many people still succumb to international scammers who offer great work from home scams for improved life and increased income the easy and quick way.
What is Check Fraud? Although check fraud is not as widespread and publicized as credit card fraud, it is still one of the challenges facing consumers and businesses.
Smartphone Theft Statistics This article outlines some important smartphone theft statistics which must be taken into consideration by cell phone owners who are concerned about their phone security.
Identity Theft Affects the Poor The story of Gago who is on government assistance is described to show that identity theft affects the poor also and does not discriminate anyone.
Employee Background Check Rights When you apply for a job and the employer requires a background check, the employer must follow some rules and you also have some employee background check rights.
We Destroy Our Privacy We destroy our privacy when we become identity obese by excessively disclosing our personal information with others which increases our publicness and risk of identity fraud.
Identity Theft Impact on Credit Score Identity theft impact on credit score should not be underestimated as one of the most important business criteria for making credit decisions is a person’s credit score.
LinkedIn Spam Invitation to Connect A LinkedIn spam invitation can just be a spam email or sent with a fake LinkedIn profile to defraud targets or have the victamabe click a link for an intended criminal purpose.
Victimabe Victimabe pronounced as victim-a-be is a new term used to describe a potential crime target who is about to become a victim of criminal acts or victim-to-be.
2012 Identity Theft This articles discusses the 2012 identity theft trends and how we can leverage the collected identity theft data to prevent the crime and minimize identity fraud costs.
IRS Tax Refund Scam It is reported that the IRS tax refund scam is at an all time high costing the IRS and consumers billions of dollars. let’s explore what this means for the IRS and tax filers as part of our identity theft overview understanding.
Reputation is Destroyed Our reputation is destroyed as quickly as an identity theft crime such as a spoofed email can be sent to thousands of people with our name stamped as the email sender.
Privacy Confusion As we attempt to collectively define and protect our privacy rights while we decide and allow our privacy to be disclosed in some cases, we create a sense of privacy confusion.
Stolen Social Security Number Stolen social security number can occur before a person is born or after the SSN is issued regardless of whether the person received the SSN at birth or upon coming to the country as an immigrant.
Electronic Pick Pocketing Radio Frequency Identification or RFID enabled credit cards are on the rise as well as the electronic pick pocketing risks that they have introduced.
Everyday is Halloween Halloween provides a great opportunity for criminal to commit fraud while disguised and without being noticed. On the other hand, everyday is Halloween as some people disguise physically and online.
Child Identity Theft Child identity theft is real, easy to commit and harder to detect as children’s personal information is already available to trustworthy criminals and no one cares or suspects enough to monitor fraud.
Privacy and Fraud When considering the relationship between privacy and fraud, we can conclude that not all privacy violations lead to fraud and not all fraud cases lead to privacy violations depending on the intent.
Stolen Dead Boy Identity The reported news of a stolen dead boy identity illustrates how dead persons’ identities can also be stolen and misused in a variety of ways even years after the persons are passed on.
Fraud Schemes In order to combat identity theft, we have to also understand how fraud occurs and thus identify fraud schemes. This article discusses some of the identity theft techniques used by fraudsters.
Exploitable Identity Component We must identify our most exploitable identity component and then discriminately apply more stringent security practices to our most vulnerable personal information.
Fraud Drivers There are three main drivers which allow fraudsters to commit fraud. These fraud drivers are Opportunity, Incentive and Justification. Let’s briefly explore them to expand our identity theft overview.
Consumer Complicity When the private information of celebrities and others is obtained illegally and sold for financial rewards without approval, consumer complicity becomes evident when they pay for such information.
Student Privacy Educational institutions in the United States are struggling with student privacy and its legal requirements, student record protection and consequences of unauthorized privacy invasion.
Gas Station Security Read this identity theft overview article about gas station fraud and how security is weakened when credit card transactions are approved based on a zip code which can easily be guessed.

Puerto Rico Birth Certificate Reset As of July 1, 2010, the new Puerto Rico law will invalidate all existing birth certificates for a massive birth certificate reset and will offer new and improved birth certificates to its residents.
LifeLock Lawsuit The major conclusion of the LifeLock lawsuit settlement is that identity theft is unavoidable and identity protection companies should not over promise or abuse the laws.
Affluent Wealthy It is reported in a study completed by Experian that the affluent wealthy individuals are more often the prime targets and victims of identity thieves.
Identity Validation There are in general three types of information used for identity validation. Such information can provide false identification if they are compromised.
Total Identity Protection A total identity protection requires an understating of identity protection limitations as well as balanced measures to address all identity theft risks.
Card Verification Code (CVC) Not only a credit card verification code doesn’t improve card security, but it can facilitate credit card fraud.
Stimulus Fraud Due to the recession and the government efforts to turn the economy around, economy stimulus fraud will hit families in more than one ways.
Identity Hostage With a downward economy, taking an identity hostage to commit a quick cash fraud is on the rise today and will most likely increase with the widely used biometric access management systems.
Insurance Claim Fraud I personally experienced an insurance claim fraud committed by a doctor using my own identity and this is the identity theft overview of my case.
Best Identity Protection Each person’s identity theft risks must be carefully considered to create and implement the best identity protection package.
Fraud Accomplice Gas fraud is on the rise and when gas buyers participate and help execute an identity fraud, they effectively become fraud accomplice.
Overseas Rent Fraud When considering lucrative offers to rent a house or an apartment, overseas rent fraud must be considered to avoid costly rental mistakes.
Drugged For Money As our society moves toward biometric identification, cases of people being drugged for money and identity theft will probably increase.
Credit Fraud Alert A credit fraud alert loses its effectiveness when it becomes a routine process and is not enforced for compliance.
Identity Obesity Identity theft and related issues are caused by identity obesity. Please read this article to learn about identity obesity and how it can be resolved.
Michael Bloomberg Fraud Case The Michael Bloomberg fraud case involved separate cases of forged checks and cash transfer in between bank accounts. Learn about the details of the case and how they can be prevented as part of the identity theft overview.
Identity KAOS Identity KAOS is a set of identity protection principles that must be understood for a complerensive identity theft overview and protection against identity theft.
Credit Score Trap In our efforts to maintain a balanced financial and credit life, we may face the credit score trap which can have negative consequences for other areas.
Organize Tax Documents We need a complete list of tax documents for filing our taxes correctly. To ensure the completeness of our documents, we need to be very paper organized.Improve your identity theft overview knowledge.
Identity Theft Spiral Some people routinely share their personal information in exchange for comfort and speed, become identity theft victims, and willingly share even more information seeking identity theft protection. This article provides a deeper identity theft overview.
Jury Duty Scam A jury duty scam is a new type of identity theft scam whereby scammers collect personal information of their victims to commit fraud using new and fearful tactics.
Internet Identity Theft As online social network sites grow in numbers and members, Internet identity theft has become a real threat to the most vulnerable members.
RFID System Security RFID system provides improved security and convenience but also introduces new RFID security challenges. Improve your identity theft overview knowledge.
Top Annual Resolutions Our top annual resolutions should be inclusive of critical goals to address risks in our lives including identity theft risks.
Managing Identity Theft Fear Most of us have fears including identity theft fear that we have to deal with. If we ignore our fears and real threats, we will emotionally break down and face real dangers.
Unavoidable Risks We face many unavoidable risks in life such as identity theft, however, with proper planning, we can overcome the challenges of dealing with the unpredictable risks.
Don't Buy Credit We have been able to buy credit score until now which affected the lenders, buyers and sellers of good credit.
Credit Score Management Techniques There are many things that can change your credit score positively or negatively including identity fraud and related transactions. Proper credit score management can develop or maintain a great score.
Are You Dating The Real Identity? Interacting with people within the society and building business and life partnerships raises identity questions including whether you are dating the real identity.
Food And Credit Products Are Similar We need a healthy dose of both but over consumption of any will either kill us or destroy our lives.
Identity Theft Tests Testing your knowledge will make you more aware of identity theft and increase your identity theft overview exposure.
Identity Theft Is A Misleading Term We keep referring to many identity issues such as lost identity as identity theft. Isn't the real risk identity crime?
What Is Identity? In order to expand on identity theft overview, we need to define what identity is.
Types Of Identity Crimes The consequences of identity crime vary depending on its nature.
Types Of Identity Theft Scams Learn about the various ways identity crimes occur
Identity Theft Affects Identity crime affects people mainly financially but also emotionally.
Identity Theft Statistics Identity theft affects many more people than you think. This is an international issue and important part of the identity theft overview section.
Identity Theft Laws The identity theft laws keep getting created at the national, state and international levels which we need to keep up with to defend our rights but also avoid major lawsuits.
The Federal Trade Commission The FTC is charged to fight identity theft.
Free Credit Score Scam Although some legitimate companies provide free credit scores to their existing and potential customers, free credit score scam is on the rise. Read this article to learn more and watch a video.

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