Cyber Identity Theft :
Identity theft is a criminal offense. It is one of the most expensive and fastest growing crime. Over 9.9 million Americans were victims of identity theft last year. It cost them about $5 billion.
Identity theft refers to identity fraud for an unlawful purpose. It happens when a person knowingly uses identification of another person without legal authorization. Identity theft can be divided into four categories: Criminal Identity Theft, Financial Identity Theft, Business and Commercial Identity, and Identity Cloning.
Preventing cyber identity theft tips:
- If you have unwanted personal documents like old driver license, you should shred and destroy it.
- Don’t throw away your annual credit reports. Some people never look at their credit reports. You should spend time to review what looks suspicious.
- Put your mail in U.S. Postal Service collection boxes.
- Avoid leaving mail in the mailbox overnight. When you are finishing your mail, you might want to shred it.
- Sign new credit cards right away. Otherwise, someone else may do it for you.
- If you lost credit cards, report it immediately.
- Try to memorize your Social Security Number.
- Avoid using your birthday as a password.
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