| Identity theft (ID theft or identity fraud) is the deliberate | | | | phishing attacks. Identity theft statistics expose phishing |
| appropriation of an individual's personal information to | | | | as the most dangerous of all ID thefts that uses both |
| impersonate that person in a legal sense. Stealing | | | | social engineering and technical subterfuge. |
| someone's identity enables the thief to make a | | | | Phishing can have serious financial consequences. In a |
| frightening number of financial and personal | | | | phishing attack, the victim is sent an email that |
| transactions in someone else's name, leaving the victim | | | | "appears" to be from a bank or other financial |
| responsible for what might turn out to be a | | | | institution. The victim is then told to click a link and |
| mind-boggling turmoil in his or her life. The Federal | | | | verify his/her account information or supply personal |
| Trade Commission (FTC) keeps records on identity | | | | identity data. The link appears to be a legitimate site, |
| theft, and, not surprisingly, the number of incidents | | | | but is in fact a scam. The moment he/she enters |
| reported increase each year. The recent identity theft | | | | sensitive data, the identity thief gains access to |
| statistics reveal that ID theft affects as many as ten | | | | account information and can empty the bank account. |
| million Americans each year! According to FTC's | | | | Phishers can also take out credit cards in the victim's |
| identity theft statistics, the losses to businesses and | | | | name, steal ISP account information and do other |
| financial institutions total nearly 53 billion dollars annually. | | | | financial damage. In its latest report on identity theft |
| These identity theft statistics further reveal that the | | | | statistics, the research group Gartner says that close |
| most common types of ID thefts are credit card | | | | to 60 million Americans reported receiving a phishing |
| frauds, communications services fraud (such as | | | | email, and 1.7 million people have been victims of |
| opening a cell phone or a utility services account using | | | | identity theft, which cost banks and credit card |
| someone else's information), bank fraud and loan fraud. | | | | companies $1.2 billion in losses. |
| For years, the primary cause of identity theft has been | | | | You must take steps to protect your account |
| good old-fashioned or low-tech analog crime. | | | | information, social security numbers, passwords, etc. |
| Impersonators rummaging though mailboxes, snatching | | | | Now. Always memorize and shred important |
| purses or searching the garbage for discarded bank | | | | documents that you are discarding. Don't simply throw |
| statements or credit card receipts. Rapid advances in | | | | these types of documents away! |
| technology have seen a plague of sophisticated | | | | |