Identity theft forms a part of Identity CrimesThere are three main types of identity crimesFirst comes, identity theft. As the name suggests,

stealing somebody else’s personal information is termed as identity theft.

Next comes, identity fraud. Using any stolen or fictitious identity for other purposes, be it ethical or unethical.

And the last is account takeover. When a fraudster uses any other identity or its part such as an email address to gain access to financial accounts or any other personal account, the access of which is not authorized by them, such events account to account takeover.

Identity may seem as a general and universal term

and such information is possessed by all.

The thirst of more has indulged people to adopt

unethical ways for the satisfaction of their desires.

Obviously, they do not want to disclose themselves

for their untrue practices and thus the reason

arises for identity crimes.

Why Identity Thefts?

Various Trends have been observed in the patterns

of Identity Crimes

Globalization has brought in many benefits but it has also facilitated cyber thieves with a higher degree of freedom. With the absence of cyber borders, thieves can access anywhere to and from within or beyond the nation.

The scope of identity crimes has stretched its arms further. The crimes now range from banking frauds to employment frauds.

Age no longer stays bar for the crimes. There are an increasing number of culprits aged under

30.

Social media is another important source of acquiring information. Experts are calling these social media sites (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) as ‘hunting grounds’.

Technology plays a significant part for these crimes. Practices such as hacking, phishing and skimming are widely used to extract information. Viruses and spyware equally assist in this.

The careless behavior of individuals leaving their documents and storage devices on desks or throwing them away in garbage or recycle bins leads to physical theft of the information.

A survey reveals that “Every minute creates 19 victims of identity loss.”

Measures to be taken against

Ensure that your hard drives are encrypted and secured with passwords.

Be cautious with respect to the information being shared online through various social platforms.

Keep all the documents and information secure. Use an effective system for document management that also includes provisions for disposal and destruction along with data acquisition and usage. Also get endorsed for shredding services.

Employee training schedule shall feature programs creating awareness for data security and dependable data storage ways and mediums. Clean Desk Policy shall stand mandatory in the organization.

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