Identity theft has met the law of supply and demand. The law of supply and demand won.
Yes, identity theft is now so pervasive that the value of individual identities has fallen sharply. What's more, a wealthy person's identity, with perfect credit, isn't worth much more than a deadbeat's identity.
That value, by the way, is about $10, perhaps a little more. Just a few years ago, the black-market price for a pilfered identity was $100 or more. But today, hackers are stealing so many more identities, that the value of each one has sharply declined.
Indeed, about 11 million Americans suffered some form of data compromise in 2009. Many of these victims suffered nothing worse than fraudulent charges on a credit card, but identity theft is a crime with the potential to turn your life upside down. (If you have any doubt, read these horror stories).
Most identity theft stems from lax security at department stores, credit card processing centers, hotels, the military, and universities.
If you serve in the military or attend a university, you can't do much to prevent identity theft stemming from lax security at these institutions. Pay cash at department stores and hotels to prevent hackers from picking your credit card number out of a poorly secured data stream. At hotels, though, you'll probably need a credit card to check in. Pay cash in advance, and ask the hotel clerk not to authorize any payment on it unless there's an outstanding balance.
An increasing number of hackers target individual victims over the Internet. Identity thieves may pose as your friend on Facebook, and then steal whatever personal information you reveal. They can also trick you into visiting a fraudulent Web site posing as a legitimate one. This is common with online banking scams, where identity thieves drain your account after stealing your log-on password. Then they try to steal enough personal information to apply for credit in your name.
The antidote for dealing with online identity theft is to be skeptical. Do you really need 14 million friends? That's the approximate number of friends Lady Gaga now has on Facebook. Ask strangers who want to be your friend, "How do you know me?" If your new "friend" tells you that another friend referred them to you, ask that friend for confirmation.
A common ruse on or off social networking Web sites is an e-mail with an infected file attachment. If you click on the attachment, a remote administration "Trojan Horse" program may take over your PC. From that point forward, the Trojan may send everything you type or view to points unknown.
Another common scam is a bogus email, allegedly from a bank or online merchant. The message contains a link routing you to an authentic-looking, but phony, Web site. There, you're prompted to enter sensitive information such as your password, your Social Security number, etc. A hacker may even plant malicious software in the servers that direct traffic on the Internet. Even if you type in the correct address of a website (e.g., of a bank), the software sends you to a bogus one, where thieves can steal your personal information.
Protect yourself by never clicking on unfamiliar attachments or entering personal information into an online form in response to an unsolicited e-mail message. If you're not sure, call the company sending you the e-mail. Don't call any number listed in the message, either. It's probably a fake listing. Instead, call the number on any statement the company has sent you, or look it up.
Fortunately, it's difficult even for the best hackers to duplicate the "look and feel" of a commercial website. Also, be alert to misspellings. Another tip-off is if the website doesn't display the "lock" icon at the bottom of your screen. If you have any suspicion the website isn't real, again, call the company.
More advanced "spyware" installs itself on your PC as soon as you view an infected Web page in your browser or e-mail reader. Protect yourself against this attack by using a free program called No-Script. It's available for Firefox, and it preemptively blocks all potentially dangerous content from being loaded into your browser. You can authorize individual components of the Web page to load by right clicking on the No-Script icon. For Web sites you trust completely, instruct No-Script to load the entire page.
Identity theft is big business. It's not going away anytime soon, either, because both online marketing companies and the government find the data you leave behind very useful. So don't rely on the government to come up with a "solution" to identity theft. Rely on yourself.
Copyright © 2010 by Mark Nestmann
Yes, identity theft is now so pervasive that the value of individual identities has fallen sharply. What's more, a wealthy person's identity, with perfect credit, isn't worth much more than a deadbeat's identity.
That value, by the way, is about $10, perhaps a little more. Just a few years ago, the black-market price for a pilfered identity was $100 or more. But today, hackers are stealing so many more identities, that the value of each one has sharply declined.
Indeed, about 11 million Americans suffered some form of data compromise in 2009. Many of these victims suffered nothing worse than fraudulent charges on a credit card, but identity theft is a crime with the potential to turn your life upside down. (If you have any doubt, read these horror stories).
Most identity theft stems from lax security at department stores, credit card processing centers, hotels, the military, and universities.
If you serve in the military or attend a university, you can't do much to prevent identity theft stemming from lax security at these institutions. Pay cash at department stores and hotels to prevent hackers from picking your credit card number out of a poorly secured data stream. At hotels, though, you'll probably need a credit card to check in. Pay cash in advance, and ask the hotel clerk not to authorize any payment on it unless there's an outstanding balance.
An increasing number of hackers target individual victims over the Internet. Identity thieves may pose as your friend on Facebook, and then steal whatever personal information you reveal. They can also trick you into visiting a fraudulent Web site posing as a legitimate one. This is common with online banking scams, where identity thieves drain your account after stealing your log-on password. Then they try to steal enough personal information to apply for credit in your name.
The antidote for dealing with online identity theft is to be skeptical. Do you really need 14 million friends? That's the approximate number of friends Lady Gaga now has on Facebook. Ask strangers who want to be your friend, "How do you know me?" If your new "friend" tells you that another friend referred them to you, ask that friend for confirmation.
A common ruse on or off social networking Web sites is an e-mail with an infected file attachment. If you click on the attachment, a remote administration "Trojan Horse" program may take over your PC. From that point forward, the Trojan may send everything you type or view to points unknown.
Another common scam is a bogus email, allegedly from a bank or online merchant. The message contains a link routing you to an authentic-looking, but phony, Web site. There, you're prompted to enter sensitive information such as your password, your Social Security number, etc. A hacker may even plant malicious software in the servers that direct traffic on the Internet. Even if you type in the correct address of a website (e.g., of a bank), the software sends you to a bogus one, where thieves can steal your personal information.
Protect yourself by never clicking on unfamiliar attachments or entering personal information into an online form in response to an unsolicited e-mail message. If you're not sure, call the company sending you the e-mail. Don't call any number listed in the message, either. It's probably a fake listing. Instead, call the number on any statement the company has sent you, or look it up.
Fortunately, it's difficult even for the best hackers to duplicate the "look and feel" of a commercial website. Also, be alert to misspellings. Another tip-off is if the website doesn't display the "lock" icon at the bottom of your screen. If you have any suspicion the website isn't real, again, call the company.
More advanced "spyware" installs itself on your PC as soon as you view an infected Web page in your browser or e-mail reader. Protect yourself against this attack by using a free program called No-Script. It's available for Firefox, and it preemptively blocks all potentially dangerous content from being loaded into your browser. You can authorize individual components of the Web page to load by right clicking on the No-Script icon. For Web sites you trust completely, instruct No-Script to load the entire page.
Identity theft is big business. It's not going away anytime soon, either, because both online marketing companies and the government find the data you leave behind very useful. So don't rely on the government to come up with a "solution" to identity theft. Rely on yourself.
Copyright © 2010 by Mark Nestmann
Just to let people know - If your identity is stolen, you have HUGE recourse against the banks & data collection banks!!!
Fortunately, there is fantastic legislation that actually holds them accountable to massive fines!
Folks can drop me a note if they want to know more...
Posted by: Cesare Bonventre | August 17, 2010 at 02:41 AM