Ever since the earliest days of the Internet, there have been frauds, scams and dangers, and those dangers have not gone away. From viruses, to spyware and adware, there are no shortage of annoying and dangerous programs on the Internet. In addition, there are frauds and scams out there that every online user needs to be aware of. One of the most serious of these online scams is known as identity theft, and it can be a devastating crime for those who fall prey to it.
Identity theft differs from the related problem of credit card fraud in a number of different ways. One of the chief differences is the way in which the scam works, and the amount of time it can take to find out that you have been a victim. When it comes to credit card fraud, the victim generally will find out about the scheme within a month or two, after the first credit card bill with fraudulent charges arrives.
When it comes to identity theft, however, the problem can often go undetected for many months, and in many cases the victim will be unaware of his or her victimization until much later.
That is because those engaged in identity theft can use the personal information they garner from unwitting victims to open new bank accounts, take out new credit card accounts, take out loans, and perform other financial transactions. Since the victim is generally unaware of all these new accounts, he or she may not learn about the problem until collection agents start calling about all those overdue credit card bills.
To make matters worse, it can be quite difficult for those credit and debt collectors to determine which charges are legitimate and which ones are not. This can make it quite difficult, and very time consuming, to sort through all the mess. In some cases it can take hundreds of dollars, and more than a hundred hours of hard work, for the victim to recover his or her good name.
Fortunately there are steps ordinary consumers can take to reduce their chances of falling victim to identity theft, and to catch any attempts at fraud early, before serious damage has been done.
One simple step is to refuse to give out any personal information, such as Social Security numbers, account numbers or passwords, over the phone or through email. Another is to shred all personal mail and documents, including anything that contains a Social Security number or account number.
But perhaps the best strategy to protect your identity is to carefully review a copy of your own credit report at least once a year. When reviewing your credit report, be especially cognizant of the section of the report which details recent inquiries against your credit file. If you spot any inquiries you did not authorize, be sure to notify the credit reporting agency immediately, since this unauthorized access could be an early warning of identity theft.
Pay attention also to the part of the credit report which shows your name and address. Any changes to this section could have been made by identity thieves in an attempt to cover their tracks. Again, be sure to report any problems you find to the credit repotting agency immediately, in order to mitigate any damage that has been done and to prevent any further damage from occurring.
