Criminal Defense

As more and more business and banking transactions happen online, so is the rise in identity theft crimes. Almost nobody is immune to identity theft. Even the chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank was once a victim of identity theft. Identity theft happens when other people are able to obtain personal information, such as Social Security Number or credit bank account number, and to use this information for their own gains, such as working with wages or purchasing products using your own money - all without your knowledge and consent.

Identity theft can happen in a lot of ways. One common technique is skimming, in which a machine reads your credit card, and stores and "steals" the information. The garbage can or dumpster can be sources in which a person carelessly threw away his personal information. Some go dumpster driving and scour the pile of garbage for any pertinent documents or papers containing private information or account numbers.

Online, phishing and using installing malwares have been used to "steal" information from the user's computer. Some of these hackers also pose as legitimate financial institutions, which are actually scams meant to hack away and retrieve information which they can use for various criminal activities. Of course, unreported stolen wallets are another major source of identity theft. If and when the owner fails to report a stolen credit card, others will take advantage and use it for their own benefit, using this stolen credit card to make unnecessary purchases, and leaving the owner a mountain of credit debt.

Because of the rise in the incident of identity theft, it is thus important that one should safeguard personal and private information so as not to be a victim. Prevention is always the key to any untoward or dangerous situation that might arise in the future. One way is by purchasing a good paper shredder. When throwing away important documents, whether in the home or in the office, it is important to destroy all relevant information with iden! tificati on details about yourself. This will prevent other people from snooping around and will still protect your accounts.

For credit card theft, calling on the help of a credit monitoring company will assist you in keeping track the credit card scores, especially when you have several credit cards to your name. Credit monitoring information helps keep tabs on any suspicious purchases and transactions, and reports any alarming incident to you immediately.