Information to  protect yourself from identity theft

Identity theft, or identity fraud, is when one person assumes another person’s identity by obtaining personal information for deceptive use or criminal activity.

Many times, identity theft is done to gain access to finances or frame another person for a crime. It can also be to enable terrorism, espionage, illegal immigration or changing identity completely. However, assuming someone’s identity with the approval of that person for reasons such as cheating on an exam is not considered identity theft.

Identity theft is, in short, a crime against another person. Your personal information, such as your Social Security Number, your bank account and credit card numbers and other identifying data are not unique to you as your fingerprints are. Obtaining this information may be a little easier than you think, and there are plenty of uses for your personal information if it falls into the wrong hands.

Identity theft is on the rise around the world, mostly because it is getting increasingly easier to obtain people’s private information with the dawn of the Internet. Every day, more and more websites are popping up on the Internet and more and more of them are not legitimate businesses-they are only there to get your information, preferably your credit card number, so they can commit fraud and charge your card or assume your identity.

Credit cards are commonly involved in identity theft. Credit cards, credit card receipts, and credit card bills are commonly used as a source for gaining the information necessary to steal someone’s identity. In addition, getting credit cards in someone else’s name, then running that person into debt, is a favorite form of identity theft for many con artists.

To avoid becoming the victim of identity theft, it is important to know how to handle your credit cards and your personal credit history.

We have designed our website to help you the consumer get helpful information to avoid becoming a statistic.  Feel free to browse our website for information you can use to prevent your identity from being stolen and for tips on what to do if you do fall prey to identity theft.

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Resources:  General resource | Credit | Security & protection | Consumer reports