Trick: How Not to Fall Victim to Identity Theft Scams
Every day, hundreds of people fall victim to identity theft. Some don't even become aware of it for quite a long time. Use the right tricks to make sure that you don't become the next identity theft statistic.
Identity theft is a thriving scam industry these days and it takes a careful lifestyle to make sure that you're not included among the victims. It isn't just about rooting through somebody's garbage anymore - although that does still exist. Instead, identity theft has become a much more conniving business. In fact, one of the most common methods that identity theft scam artists use these days is to ask you for your confidential information directly, under the guise of a legitimate inquiry.
Even when we're at our most cautious, there are still ways for expert identity scam artists to obtain our information. Therefore, one of the best things that you can do to prevent being a victim of identity theft is to know what it looks like when it has happened to you, so that you can report it as soon as possible, and minimize the damage.
You should also occasionally make the effort to find out what the latest popular identity theft scams are so that you can prepare yourself for them.
Currently, there are five types of identity theft scams that are creating the most damage. They are as follows:
• "Phishing" Scams - These scams target major financial institutions and other large, well-known websites. They can range from any business that you are likely to trust, including Citibank, eBay, PayPal and even the IRS. The typical scam includes sending you an email from a "system administrator" or another official sounding representative. This email instructs you to sign in to your account to perform some kind of urgent maintenance there. Be extremely careful if you receive this type of email. Frequently, they include links to sites that look exactly like the original website, allowing you to log in and therefore provide them with your login name and password. If you aren't sure about the validity of an email you have received, call the institution, or visit the business's website; either way, use the contact information that you already have. Never use links or telephone numbers from these emails.
• The Email Scam - This is an extremely old scam and is sent to people by email, fax, and snail mail. The gist is that it is a personal letter to you stating that the sender has come into a great deal of money - frequently over 35 million dollars - and the sender needs your help to transfer this money out of Nigeria, Iraq, or some other "distant" or "troubled"-sounding place. As a reward for your assistance, the sender promises you a few million dollars.
• Online Auction Fraud With eBay and Yahoo Auctions - This type of fraud is the second most reported. The concept is extremely simple. It involves a scam artist who places a fake auction on eBay or Yahoo Auctions and waits for someone to "win" the auction. They have the winner send the money but they never send the item.
• Lottery Prize Scam - This scam involves a person phoning you to offer you the chance to win a prize from a major credit card company. They then ask all of your personal information, including, for example, your Social Security number or your credit card number including its expiration date.
• Make Millions Scam - This one will usually involve an offer to do some very simple task that will allow you to make a tremendous income. For example, they'll claim that you can make over a hundred, or even over a thousand dollars per day by stuffing envelopes, or doing some other job that doesn't involve selling, meetings, or customers. The details are usually quite sketchy but the promises are generally huge. Typically, these offers are illegal pyramid schemes.
Protect yourself carefully by developing a "need to know" approach for all of your personal information. If you are calling your credit card company, you can be pretty certain that you're reaching a legitimate representative on the other end of the phone, and if they ask your mother's maiden name, they are only asking it for verification purposes. However, if you receive a phone call from someone, you have no way of verifying that they are who they say they are. Never give out your personal information to someone phoning you. Have them mail you forms if you aren't sure if they're legit. That will allow you enough time to check into what they're offering or who they're claiming to be.
