Identity Theft Articles
You’re 18 at last, and off to college. You have a part time job, a full time class load, a terrific roommate and a second hand car. Life couldn’t be better, right?
You’re pretty smart for an 18 year old - you listened when Mom and Dad were talking about finances and try to live within your means. You have one credit card, which you use for gas and groceries (and pay off in full every month), and a gym membership that debits a monthly fee automatically from your bank account. You know these two simple items are building your credit ...
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When you swipe your credit or debit card at a major retailer, you expect it to be a safe transaction, right? WRONG. Big companies and businesses are highly unconcerned about the safety of your credit information. Even the government seems surprisingly lax when it comes to protecting your information.
The public sat up and paid attention when a recent investigation in Miami uncovered a 11 person identity theft ring with international influence that targeted customers of large chain stores and stole millions of credit card numbers. Another ring admitted to using random entry of numbers into a municipal court site to ...
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Plenty of people wardrive. Cruising around looking for wireless network locations isn’t illegal - but hacking into the network to access sensitive information is. ‘Sniffers’ are illegal programs that can be installed in hacked wireless networks, and used to download information like customers credit card numbers and other personal information.
The Renagade Wardrivers
An international identity theft ring was discovered operating out of Miami in August, that was credited with the theft of over 40 million credit and debit card numbers. This is the largest credit card and identity theft scheme yet, with 11 people from the US, Ukraine, Estonia ...
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Late last month, President Bush signed a new identity theft law in an attempt to help the increasing numbers of victims affected by this insidious crime. Previously, the requirements to be met to allow prosecution of cyber-crime were so high as to allow many hackers to slip through the cracks.
Felony Charges May Now Apply
Identity theft is the number one offense associated with computer based crimes, and usually involves some sort of computer based fraud, unauthorized access or tampering, or even hacking into government or state owned computer systems. The new law makes many of these acts a felony.
In ...
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ATM machines hold some of our most critical money information, including our bank account number, PIN number and other identification. As such, ATMs make it easy for us to perform bank transactions. Unfortunately, they also make it easy for crooks to steal your identification--and strip your wallet. Here are some of the top ATM theft procedures and what steps you can take to help prevent becoming a victim.
Withholding
With this common trick, the thief places a capture strip, called a “loop,” inside the card insertion slot. The thief may stand behind you to watch you enter your PIN number, or a ...
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It’s all over the news: 2008 may leave U.S. citizens more open to identity theft than previous voting years. Why? According to identity theft prevention experts, this year’s emotionally charged primary election may expose voters open to sneakier and more sophisticated means of illegally grabbing (or even destroying) their vote.
Additionally, the grassroots efforts of the major political parties mean that we expect to be approached--and that we assume the approachers are legitimate members of a given party.
In order to minimize the possibility of your vote being stolen, keep the following in mind:
Beware of E-Mail Voting Scams
The internet ensures that we ...
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Male, white, college-educated and a confirmed computer geek: you've heard a lot about the "average" ID thief. But do these characteristics constitute the majority? Not by a long shot, according to the latest reports. Read on for the scoop on who's really out to take your identity--and how he (or she!) plans to do it.
Do I Know You?
Many people are surprised to learn that ID thieves aren't always strangers. One common scamming method involves what is known as the "sweetheart scenario". A new love (perhaps someone you've known for months or even longer) cries on your shoulder about an ill ...
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Identity theft is the highest rising crime in America. This statement alone begs the question; what is our government doing to protect us? The federal government has created several laws with the intent of reducing id theft. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (pdf) establishes the measure required for correcting mistakes on your credit report and ensures that only viable businesses will have access to your report. The Fair Credit Billing Act determines procedures for settling billing errors on credit accounts and limits the amount of money a consumer can be held liable for ...
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Scams and fraud crimes are most dangerous when they are highly complex and there is little information available to successfully warn and educate potential victims and the public at large. A fairly new and little known scam involves two common crimes, mortgage fraud and identity theft, and it goes by the names of "home stealing" or "house stealing".
This crime is so new that the average home owner may be unaware that they are the targets of a new scam. Warnings need to go out at a faster rate, because according to the FBI, new or not, home stealing crimes ...
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Cleaning Up After the Crime
Once someone has found that they are a victim of identity theft, they may try to begin the long process of paper work and phone calls that is necessary to clear their good name. When they begin, hope is still present as they assume that everything will be cleared and automated. It will only take a few short days or weeks for the victim to learn that the burden of proof is on them.
When they contact a government agency to report the crime or to get help, they will be referred to another agency. While ...
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