Identity theft has become a common crime, although statistics show occurrences are decreasing from a high of 10.1 million victims in the year 2003 to 8.4 million in 2007, it still costs consumers and affected organizations nearly $50 billion per year (Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, 2007). And it’s not merely an inconvenience or a detriment to a victim’s credit rating, identity theft is classified as a federal crime.

According to the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act of 1998, it is a federal crime if someone “knowingly transfers or uses, without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person with the intent to commit, or to aid or abet, any unlawful activity that constitutes a violation of the Federal law, or that constitutes a felony under any applicable State or local law.”

According to the Federal Trade Commission, the most common forms of identity theft include credit card fraud, bank fraud, communications services fraud (such as opening a cell phone account), and obtaining fraudulent loans used to purchase goods or services. No

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When we consider how identity theft happens, the various scams and other common methods of identity theft tend to fall into one of two categories. Low-tech methods such as dumpster diving and telephone scams are easier to fight against because they take advantage of a victim’s personal habits. However when considering high-tech methods of identity theft, there’s not much that you can do, because your personal information is stolen from somebody that you gave it to for a business purpose (like buying a house or getting an insurance quote.)

Low-Tech Methods

Stolen Wallet/Purse or other personal theft. The earliest cases of identity theft were probably related to personal information obtained by a pickpocket or burglar. The classic novel, A Tale of Two Cities, is resolved through an assumed identity, and the concept probably goes further back than that.

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The risks for identity theft are everywhere you turn. Your mail, your computer, your credit cards, even your trash; all present opportunities for criminals to gain access to your personal information. To prevent identity theft, you must constantly be aware of the ways that criminals will use to gain access to your personal, identifying information.

Computer Scams

One place that identity thieves often focus their attention is on your computer. Web sites and emails can put you at risk for identity theft. Learn how to recognize the most common computer-based scams.

Real World Scams

Most people associate identity theft with computer crimes, but in truth more than half of identity theft happens in real world situations.

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Point of Threat: Credit Cards

Identity theft and credit card fraud are not the same crime, though the two are often lumped together as one. Identity theft is much more far-reaching than credit card fraud. When a criminal steals you identity, they may have financial motivation, but you’ll suffer more than fraudulent charges on your credit cards.

Identity thieves may change account information, create new accounts, use your identity to commit crimes, and even use your identity to establish a new life. Credit card fraud, on the other hand, is limited to charges on stolen credit card numbers. A criminal gains access to your account number and then uses it to purchase products online or in person and then resells those goods to get the cash.

So, if credit card fraud is not identity theft, why address it? The simple answer is because credit card fraud can be an element of identity theft.

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Are the tides turning that quickly?  Just last week it seemed that hackers had the upper hand and law enforcement, major companies and government agencies all had pie on their faces.  And now with LulzSec calling it a day, and even more arrests happening, it seems that the day of reckoning has already come?

Although not involved with the latest ‘hacktivism” trend, one notorious hacker who actually used his talents to loot consumer bank accounts, is facing 13 long years in prison.

According to PC World, Kenneth Joseph Lucas II, of Los Angeles, was one of a total of 100 people arrested by Egyptian and U.S. autho

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Definition:

Synthetic identity fraud is a method of identity theft in which criminals alter personal information for the purposes of gaining access to a consumer’s credit card or banking information.

Criminals commit synthetic identity fraud by altering some aspect of a consumer’s information. For example, a criminal might change a date of birth or a Social Security Number by one digit. The credit reporting agency recognizes that information as belonging to the consumer, but assumes a typographical error has been made in entry. Since it’s common for these types of errors to occur, credit or banking accounts can still be granted or accessed using this faulty information.

Often synthetic identity fraud goes unrecognized because incorrect information is often stored in a separate (but linked) credit information account with the credit reporting agencies.

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