The Real Deal About Identity Theft

This part would still discuss the many facts about identity theft and a couple of guides will also be provided to help prevent individual consumers from becoming victims of the fastest growing identity theft crime in the United States.

1. The internet perpetuated identity theft.

Technology played a lot of part in the perpetuation of identity theft. The internet made a lot of things possible for every individual. It has afforded flexibility, accessibility and mobility to most of its consumers which made internet a common household name. Online shopping, online banking, e-commerce-everything is now internet or electronically available.

Since more and more transactions are being done online, it cannot be helped when you have to give out your personal information. For instance, in making online purchases, you need to give out your credit card number to secure the purchase. After doing so, you need to give out your name and address for the delivery of your merchandise. This information, when they fell in malicious hands, can be used by other people for their own financial and material rewards.

2. Despite the many security programs that are developed, identity theft is still growing.

Installing good and reliable anti-virus programs cannot prevent identity theft but it can seriously make you less attractive to identity thieves because it can protect your computer system from intruder attacks. Then again, that does not guarantee that you will never be a victim of identity theft. For one reason, identity thieves do not only access your computer for your personal information. They can also get this from your mailbox, trash bins and even from your school or university.

3. Identity thieves are also computer hackers.

With the advent of technology and the internet, most identity thieves have now channeled their energy into accessing personal information that are exchanged online since these are done randomly and millions of transactions transpire everyday. The identity thieves train themselves to be computer hackers or they seek the help of computer hackers, either way, there is no doubt that identity thieves have now taken a different face. This is a new one as it can only be used online.

4. Connecting to a public Wi-Fi hot spot zone can make you prone to identity theft.

If you think, as an internet user, that hot spots are great ideas as they offer free unlimited internet access to individuals like you, then do not discount the fact that computer hackers are also ecstatic about the idea. Not because they can go online for free but because they can easily hack the wireless network and see what everyone is doing in their computer. Most wi-fi hot spots are have no passwords or any form of security for their networks, which makes it more prone to computer hacking.

If you are fond of connecting to wi-fi hot spots, think again. Or if ever you do, do not perform any confidential transactions online. Only do so when you are using a secure network like in your home or in your office.

Tina L. Douglas is a skilled writer from California. With numerous experiences in the field of writing for several financial institutions, she is greatly qualified across a variety of economic issues. Her notable pieces of writing involve identity theft.