Cyber Predators get Ready for Prime Time ID Theft

Just by clicking a button with the mouse, one can virtually buy anything he or she wants. During vacations, when shopping over the Internet increases, identity theft abounds.

Many shoppers on these days prefer to shop online to avoid self-help from store shelves and the crowded malls. But holiday season is the vital time for Internet predators to look for opportunities to steal others' identities.

Joe Ross, President of CSIdentity theft protection, said that identity thieves know how people get engrossed in shopping and collecting gifts on the net, becoming somewhat careless at this time. ID thieves therefore find this a prime opportunity to operate. NEWS8AUSTIN reported this on December 23, 2007.

According to a research by Javelin Strategy & Research, identity theft and fraud is the most rapidly growing criminal act in the United States. The company estimates that over the last five years, there had been 27.3 Million victims recorded while over the last two years, around 20 Million had been reported.

The crime of identity theft costs a victim over $56 Billion, or $6,383 a year, and it is so highly prevalent that a case of such crime occurs almost every 3.5 seconds. The offence of identity theft has even overtaken drug trafficking to rank first in the list of crimes in the United States, according to the Department of Justice.

Spokesman for ID Secure, Dan Clements, said that every place that has information on a person held either with a retailer, credit bureau, bank, or any other database, someone is always ready with the potential to grab it. Vnunet reported this on December 17, 2007.

Clements suggests the more a person can make it difficult for the crook out there to rip him off, the lesser are the chances of him falling a prey to identity predators. These criminals seek more of an opportunity than a challenge, Clements remarked.

ID Secure therefore urges Internet users to regularly update their anti-virus and other security software and create passwords that hackers wouldn't be able to crack. It is also safe to carry limited credit cards and leave Social Security cards and other ID at home.

Related article: Cyber Child abuser Sentenced To Imprisonment

» SPAMfighter News - 1/2/2008