IDENTITY THEFT

Identity Theft

Identity Theft

Identity theft has become the most rapidly increasing crime. What was once a personal crime requiring criminals to have some form of contact with the victim, if nothing more than rummaging through the trash, can now be done from as close as next door or as far away as across the world. In the research for this paper I identify two of the most common occurrences of identity thefts: phishing (Internet based) and Dumpster-diving followed by preventative measures. Each of these thefts will be defined, explained and given a possible solution against them. The occurrences of identify theft will be sharply reduced when we increase our security consciousness by guarding our internet usage, destroying private information we place in our trash and following a few simple guidelines of prevention.

Internet scammers lurking about for people's financial information have a new way to lure unsuspecting victims: They go "phishing." Phishing, also called "carding," is a high-tech scam they use spam to deceive consumers into disclosing their credit card numbers, bank account information, Social Security numbers, passwords, and other sensitive information.

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the emails pretend to be from businesses the potential victims frequently deals with - for example, their Internet service provider (ISP), online payment service or bank. The fraudsters tell recipients that they need to "update" or "validate" their billing information to keep their accounts active, and directs them to a "look-alike" Web site of the legitimate business, further tricking consumers into thinking they are responding to a bona fide request. Unknowingly, the consumers submit their financial information - not to the businesses - but to the scammers, who in-turn order goods, services or obtains fraudulent credit. In a recent case before the Federal Trade Commission, a 17-year-old male sent out messages stating to be from America Online (AOL) that said there had been a billing problem with recipients' accounts.

The perpetrator's e-mail used AOL logos and contained legitimate links. If recipients clicked on the "AOL Billing Center" link, they were taken to a spoofed AOL Web page asking for personal information, including credit card numbers, personal identification numbers (PINs), social security numbers, banking numbers, and passwords. Another example occurred in January 2003 when an individual was able to access Ford Motor Credit database and steal 13,000 customers credit reports. As identified in a CIO article by Alison Bass (January 2003) Ford's database was maintained by a company called Experian who had allowed and employee to give out a password through a suspicious email. This violation resulted in the release of customer's Social Security Card Numbers, Bank account numbers and credit card information.

There is an old saying that "one man's trash is another man's treasure." That is certainly true in the corporate and civilian world when it comes to "Dumpster Diving". Dumpster diving is the act of sifting through the garbage of large companies or private homes searching for information on how to access corporate or personal ...