Identity Theft Scams.

A stolen identity may be obtained in many ways. Here are 6 popular ones.

Using identity theft scams, is not an id thief's preferred way of stealing identities. Hacking into information databases yields much larger quantities of personal information. A successful breach can yield hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands, and even millions of potential victims.

Successful hacking attempts are sometimes referred to as "white collar crime", or faceless crime. The actual crime is perpetrated against known or unknown individuals or establishments through the maneuvering of data.

Identity Theft Scams on the other hand, usually target specific victims.

Scam victims generally are targeted as a group or individually. An example of a group would be all senior citizens belonging to the local bingo club. Senior citizens tend to be considered as vulnerable and susceptible.

Before going into specific Online Identity Theft Scams, here are a few other ways identities have been stolen in the past. Actually, let's correct that to say instead, "given away".

• CitiFinancial lost a box of computer tapes with private account information including social security numbers while they were being transported from New Jersey to Texas by UPS. At Risk: 3.9 Million
  
  
• TimeWarner lost while transporting, employees personal data, current and former, going back to 1986. The files also included some dependents and beneficiaries. At risk: 600,000
  
  
• Bank of America Corporation lost by some undisclosed method, tapes containing personal information, including social security numbers and account information. Among the victims were Federal employees including some U.S. Senators. At risk: 1.2 Million
  
  
• Veteran Affairs Administration lost names, addresses, dates of birth, social security numbers and much more of Veterans and Current Service members. Loss occurred when the home of an employee was burglarized and a laptop containing the personal information was taken. At risk: 27 Million

(This laptop was later recovered and the VA sent letters to everyone concerned saying "Not to worry"!) As I write this article, I'm worried. Very worried! What a way to thank me for serving my country!

You may view one of the two letters the Veterans Administration sent me here.
(The document is in pdf format, therefore you'll need the Free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it. Go to www.adobe.com to download the reader.)

“Skimming. Secretly copying the magnetic strip on the back of credit or debit cards in order to duplicate them can be done by a dishonest business owner or waiter in seconds with an $80 piece of equiptment.”

Some common types of Online/Offline Identity Theft Scams and Schemes

• Fraudulent spam emails. Emails that promise huge prizes or bargains in return for personal and financial information
  
  
• “Skimming”. A dishonest business owner secretly copies the magnetic strip on the back of your credit or debit card in order to make a counterfeit card that can then be sold
  
  
• Fake electronic IRS form. Sent to gather personal information and financial data (Note: The IRS says that they never requests information by email.)
  
  
• Use a cell phone camera to photograph someone’s credit card or ATM card while he or she is using a machine or making a purchase in a business
  
  
• “Phishing”. Sending a legitimate-looking email that directs you to a phony website that is an exact copy of a real website. Here, they request your personal and financial data "to verify your account" before processing. If you are a Yahoo email user, you should be familiar with this. It became so prevalent that Yahoo instituted a "Seal" program in Sept 2006 to help you distinguish the real Yahoo Mail Login from the fake.
  
  
• “Pharming”. A tactic where criminals “hijack” whole websites and harvest the personal and financial data of users who believe they’re communicating with the authentic establishment.

As you can imagine, with identity theft being such a low-risk, high-payoff crime, Americans are being targeted by scam artists everyday. Identity fraud is here and it is here to stay. To date our best defense has been to educate ourselves to the various ways the fraud is being perpetrated upon us. We must then act on that knowledge swiftly and seek out identity theft protection.

Please understand that the use of stolen identities is nothing new to humankind. Spies, industrial and otherwise, use stolen identities. The military of many countries use them. Many Governments use them, however, they probably won't admit it. What has changed is the ability of the normal citizen to obtain and use this personal information. This is a direct result of living in the Computer Age.