Identity Theft: How Information Technology Has Made It Easier To Do
IFSM201

Identity theft is not a new problem; it has actually been around for many years but with technology evolving by the minute it has made identity theft easier than ever before to do and almost get away with, leaving little to no traces. In the past the way to commit identity theft was to kill a person and assume their identity, this was way before photo ids were customary, during those times id theft wasn’t that prevalent. During the 50’s and 60’s with the invention of credit cards and Social Security Cards identity theft began to increase slightly, since most people carried their social security cards or passports in their wallets making it easy for thieves to steal and assume their identity; even though a thief may have had your personal information it still wasn’t easy for them to get credit without applying for it in person with photo identification or without the manager of the bank that was extending the credit vouching for you personally (History of Identity Theft) Obtaining credit now a days is a lot easier as long as you have the required information, even if that information is not yours, you no longer need a bank manager to vouch for you; this gives thieves more opportunities to get your information and make it their own. With the invention of the Internet and having just about every transaction we do transmitted electronically, identity thieves have the ability to gain access to a great deal of personal information. The Internet makes this crime easy to commit because thieves no longer have to dumpster dive or steal mail to get pertinent personal information, all a thief needs to do is access a copy of someone’s credit report and all the information is there; SSN, account numbers, date of birth, addresses for the past 10 years everything a thief would need in order to make your identity their identity. It’s not that identity theft isn’t still done the old fashion way by stealing a wallet or purse or offering a great trip to some exotic land for a little bit of personal information but those methods have taken a back seat to more advanced methods such as email fraud, account hacking and phishing because they’re much easier to do. How many times have you received an email from a bank or a company that you do business with and there’s a link in the email sending you to that company’s website? Upon accessing that link you’re taken to a very official looking website with company logos and even terms and conditions for site use only to see required fields for your account information, address and other personal information because the company needs to update your account. A good majority of people will fill out the required information because the site looks official, never questioning if the site is real or not because it looks legit, “when we visit a website we use the professionalism of the page to judge whether or not it’s really legitimate—never mind that anyone can cut and paste graphics.” (Schneier, 2009) Because we deal with the Internet and websites on a daily basis most people wouldn’t second think the authenticity of a website, especially one from what appears to be a reputable company, unfortunately phishing is a common way that identity thieves use information technology to get the information they need. Having been a victim of account hacking I’m now very leery of the Internet and all it has to offer. I must admit before my banking account was wiped out, by some unnamed faceless person, I was very willing to do most if not all of my personal transactions online. I always felt that the Internet was a safe place, I was sure that all the websites I visited were secure, I never had any problems in the past with my information being at risk for theft and in my opinion there’s nothing more secure than a bank, right? In reality places like banks, credit card companies and companies that house personal information are at great risk of having their customers information accessed not only by hackers but also by the people they hire to keep that information safe. From 1999-2002 a help desk worker at Teledata Communications, a computer software company that provides banks with computerized access to credit information databases from the three major credit bureaus, sold access to the personal financial information of 30,000 victims for $60.00 per record, actually $30.00 per record because he split the profits with his point of contact, to about 20 Nigerian nationals; causing the victims to lose millions of dollars from fraudulent activities. All this was possible because “any help desk representative has access to confidential passwords and subscriber codes of (Teledata) client companies that would have enabled that employee to download credit reports from all three credit bureaus” (Sullivan, 2002) It’s scary to think that the people we trust to help us with intricate technical issues, help desk workers or IT personnel, are the same people that have so much access to the information that is so important to us but what can we do to ensure that our information remains safe? A good way to keep your personal information safe is to be proactive, take steps to prevent unauthorized transactions before they happen. Place a credit freeze on your credit reports with the three major credit bureaus, “creditors generally won’t open a new account if they don’t have access to the report, so a freeze offers the best protection there is against someone opening an account in your name.” (Lieber, 2011) Also don’t respond to unsolicited emails requesting personal information from company’s you do business with. Review all account statements regularly to ensure chargers are correct, also check your accounts online often if this option is available to you. (FDICchannel, 2011) Always use good judgment when accessing websites or clicking on links and be careful how you handle your personal information; technology is great but in the wrong hands it can be a very dangerous thing, so it is ultimately up to us to keep our own personal information safe and secure.

References:
FDICchannel. (2011, June 22). Don't Be an On-line Victim: How to Guard Against Internet Thieves and Electronic Scams. Retrieved October 6, 2011, from FDIC Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/guard/index.html
History of Identity Theft. (n.d.). Retrieved October 2011, from Identity Theft & Credit Fraud: http://www.identitytheftcreditfraud.com
Lieber, R. (2011, May 6). Identity Theft. Retrieved October 6, 2011, from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/07/your-money/identity-theft/07money.html?_r=2&ref=identityfraud
Schneier, B. (2009, January 13). The Wall Street Journal. Technology. Retrieved October 6, 2011, from The Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123125633551557469.html
Sullivan, B. (2002, November 25). Huge Identity Theft Ring Busted. Retrieved October 7, 2011, from Tech and Gadgets on msnbc.com: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3078518/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/t/huge-identity-theft-ring-busted/