History Of Identity Theft and Technology Advancements



Posted: Wednesday, October 03, 2007

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The hot topic concerning online use is old news according to the history of identity theft in the United States as well as other countries. While the victim still loses their money, their credit score and their reputation, at least they still have their health. In the early days in the history of identity theft, the thief would usually kill the victim and assume their identity. Looking alike was only worrisome if someone had known the person since there were not too many requirements for a photo identification card.

As time passed, criminals learned they could obtain enough information about a person from the trash without the need for killing the victim. “Dumpster diving” as it is most commonly called, allowed them to obtain bank statements, credit card information and most everything else they needed to represent themselves as someone else. As the history of identity theft matured, thieves took to stealing directly from the mailbox, keeping an eye out on days bank statements usually went out. This method was just as successful but did not share the dirt that was evident in dumpster diving. Telemarketing brought another wave of criminals into the history of identity theft as they could call people telling them they won a prize or were from a charitable organization calling about a donation. When they first started it was easy to convince people to give out personal information for verification purposes and then use it to open credit card accounts, buy houses and other forms of illegal financial transactions.

Internet Opens Doors Wide For Identity Theft

When people first started conducting transaction online, criminals found a new, more convenient method of stealing an identity. When hacking into banking sites became tougher due to stricter security controls, the history of identity theft was advanced by the most basic concept ever to plague the public – greed. The fear of not being able to conduct transactions online as well as correcting possible problems with an account, also make some people willing to share their personal information with identity thieves.

Internet service providers rarely conduct background checks on people who host a website, and many emails are sent telling people their bank account has been compromised and they need to click on a link to take them to the security department, which will verify their information and fix the problem. Even with the history of identity theft and identity theft protection people still fall for this phishing scam and willing turn over their information without realizing what is going on until their account balances reach zero.

Author and internet entrepreneur Bernard Pragides offers expert advice and tips regarding identity theft. Learn more about identity theft and fraud by visiting his blog at http://www.identity4life-blog.com and his website http://www.IdentityProtek.com for more helpful information.

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