| A lot of people trust the internet but a lot especially | | | | something that should be done to protect consumers |
| those who have fallen prey to identity theft have | | | | from falling victims to cyber thieves. |
| learned the hard way that it doesn't pay to place your | | | | The first line of defense many believe is the ability to |
| credit card number on the internet. Well, not just yet | | | | monitor your credit standings so you are well aware if |
| anyway. Credit cards are the convenient answer of | | | | someone has been hacking into your credit card. |
| upwardly mobile people who want to get their | | | | Some hackers make undeniably huge purchases right |
| purchases done in the most comfortable, time saving | | | | away and are a dead give away but some are |
| way. And e-commerce is the idea that lets enterprising | | | | "nibbler's". Just taking tiny bites or purchases that are |
| people set up their products and services over the | | | | hardly noticeable but ultimately when summed up |
| World Wide Web. | | | | come up to a sizeable amount too. |
| As such, such transactions are mostly done on site | | | | You can try using websites that have Consumer credit |
| with the consumer on the trusting side and risking their | | | | services that supposedly provide your current credit |
| private information just for the sake of convenience. | | | | information for a fee. Knowing what your balance is |
| Unfortunately, this information isn't safe and can be | | | | worth today helps identify if credit theft is happening to |
| snatched by equally enterprising money grabbing | | | | you. One should do what they can do to avoid falling |
| individuals. They pit computer against computer and | | | | victim to identity theft. They may eventually get |
| the war is won with a few clicks and with the right | | | | blacklisted by credit companies although it wasn't their |
| amount of hacking know-how. Some have even come | | | | fault or their reputation might be questioned. |
| up with devices that are secretly sold capable of | | | | So do not throw away personal information such as |
| deciphering private codes that are supposedly | | | | social security or bank account or billing statements in |
| securely hidden behind the company secure site. What | | | | the trash bin. Somebody might be able to use this for |
| can the consumer hope for in the battle against this | | | | their gains and besmirch your name in the same vein. |
| form of cybercrime? | | | | Be wary of a sudden change of address that is not |
| It's hard to find the culprits because they find ingenious | | | | your doing. You can call your credit card institution and |
| ways of covering up their tracks including using false | | | | double check every now and then. Never answer |
| ids that is eventually hard to trace down to the user or | | | | spam or register your credit card with websites that |
| they can move from one public computer to another, | | | | are suspicious but tempting. Get more info first. Finally, |
| knowing that their footprints in the internet are | | | | as much as possible make your credit purchases at |
| swallowed up by anonymity. If today's battle against | | | | the store where you can see who handles your card. |
| cyber terrorism is being waged, there should equally be | | | | |