Identity theft can prove costly to victims

As the world continues to rely more on technology with each passing year, we are increasingly witnessing tech infiltrate every aspect of our lives. From studying online to doing business on e-Commerce stores, Internet banking to online filing of tax returns, online travel/hotel booking to cab hire services, e-Healthcare to e-Agriculture, online grocery shopping to hanging out online, tech is everywhere.

The continued shift to digital has precipitated the theft industry to up its game too. Rarely will you hear of bank stickups today. Robbing stores at gunpoint has drastically dwindled, never mind home burglary and break ins. Why take such a risk while a much safer alternative exists?

Enter identity theft

If you are not familiar with the term, it is a financial form of fraud that involves illegally assuming another person’s identity so as to access their bank accounts, create false accounts, make fraudulent purchases or withdrawals use their credit card details, attempt to obtain services such as healthcare or employment, file fraudulent tax returns, take out loans in the victim’s name, and a host of other malicious intentions.

Criminals can assume your identity in multiple ways, from simple methods such as rummaging through garbage for bank statements or stealing mail. It could also involve more sophisticated measures such as hacking online accounts – financial, payment gateways, email, social media – or skimming debit cards at ATMs.

Online fraud is progressively gaining traction among criminals because it is more lucrative as hacking a single business could net thousands or even millions (from the big fish) of credit card numbers and other confidential details.

In the Money

Identity theft has become an extremely lucrative venture. Lucrative. Cases of identity theft and cyber fraud have been on the up in the past decade, and so has the overall growth in recorded frauds. Suffice to say the bad actors in this industry are ‘in the money’.

Between 2005 and 2010, credit card theft rose by 50 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, with the number of malicious software written to pilfer your information numbering in the hundreds of millions.

In 2014 alone – a year that was especially good for online criminals – over 1 billion records with identifiable information were leaked, with some heavyweight brands including Sony, Home Depot, eBay, JPMorgan Chase and AliExpress among the victims. In the same year, identity theft was the number one consumer complaint to the FTC, ranking first place for 15 years in a row.

Tax-related Identity Theft a gnawing Concern

Identity theft in general has been on the rise. But what we are witnessing is a widening avenue of online fraud. Medical identity theft, for example, is growing at an alarming rate, with 91 percent of health organizations witnessing a data breach in 2014 and 2015 alone.

But it is tax- and wage-related theft that make for worrying reading. Between 2014 and 2015 alone, the FTC registered 51 percent more complaints of this nature. More fraudulent tax returns have been reported, with 2016 becoming the fifth year in a row that figures of this form of theft have risen.

Most of it happens during tax season, and it doesn’t take much to pull off. All the criminals require to file is a Social Security number, for instance, one that they got hold of in one of the numerous past breaches.

Huge Losses

More and more people are suffering as they find themselves playing victim to these criminal incidents.

When someone illegally files returns on your behalf, it may take months to sort out the matter, and if you are lucky, this means a delayed tax refund.

Victims have to deal with the inconvenience of replacing their debit and credit cards, although this is nothing compared to what the worst-case scenario could be. If by any bad chance your identity is stolen and used to apply for additional lines of credit without being caught early, one could spend years resolving bad debt. There are those who find themselves borrowing funds as a result of their credit scores taking a hit. Some have even been forced to file bankruptcy, with the final nail in the coffin being home repossession.

Just because your private information was compromised.

To the criminals, it’s the least of their concerns.

Information of Interest

Usually, identity thieves hunt for specific pieces of information, including:

· Bank and credit account numbers

· User names, passwords and PIN numbers

· Phone and utility bill numbers

· Social Security numbers (SSN)

· Professional license numbers

· Employment and student identification numbers

· College or university financial-aid form information

· Insurance identification numbers

· Driving license

· Passport numbers

While there are steps being taken to combat identity theft and online fraud in general, catching the criminals is extremely difficult considering they are using information belonging to the victims, among a host of other reasons.

This is why in this day and age, paying particular attention to your online security should be a basic necessity on your part. You should go out of your way to put in place prevention mechanisms and frequently confirm there is no suspicious behavior going on in your accounts, or credit score.