Deceptive Techniques Used To Steal Your Identity

Thought you were immune to the recent wave of identity theft in America? Think again. These days, more than ever before, con artists are using ever sophisticated methods to steal the identities of unsuspecting people - when they least think it possible.

One of the major issues with modern identity theft is that fact that your information can be used so easily against you. Applications for credit, loans, and overdrafts can all take place under your name - even if you don't authorize them.

So what does this mean? Basically, you need to protect yourself from identity theft at all costs. No - this doesn't just mean checking for an SSL certificate online or shopping only at authorized online retailers. These are good suggestions, but they won't prevent some of the more technical and undercover techniques being used.

New Ways of Stealing Identities

People are getting used to taking precautions on the internet. They know that to stay safe online, they must adhere to the following rules:

• Always look for SSL protection before entering personal information.
• Looking for the actual URL in the address bar before logging in.
• Not opening links from unsolicited emails.

These rules comprise the internet security basics 101. Interestingly, because people are becoming better at protecting themselves online, identity theft through the medium is becoming a whole lot harder.

Physical Identity Theft

As a result of the evolution in the identity theft industry, con artists are now physically stealing people's details in order to continue their business of identity theft.

This means that where you might have used your credit card to buy something from a road side stall in the past, identity thieves are setting these stalls up in the hope that you will buy something and hand over your card for even a split second - whilst they record the details.

Additionally, phone based identity theft is becoming more prevalent also - as automated answering machines are phished and then used against the homeowner. Have you even received a call from an automated system asking you to enter account numbers of details in to the phone? You probably have. How did you determine whether the call was genuine?

That's right - you can't. So watch out! Identity thieves are at work in many new areas, aside from the electronic world these days.