Computer Identity Theft - How to Avoid Phishing Scams | Legal

By AdrianFletcher
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Word Count: 559

As more homes get hooked up to the internet the potential for identity theft increases. In previous years, your identity might be compromised because you threw out personal information in the trash. A potential identity thief may go through your trash looking for such information and then use it for illegal purposes. nowadays, this can be done with a computer and the sending of fraudulent emails. The crime of identity theft is increasing at a massive rate because this is so easy to do and opens up the entire world to this kind of scam.

At first glance, you may think that computer identity theft is a high tech crime that is perpetrated by some evil genius or misanthropic computer nerd but the reality is that most of it is very simple. Most computer identity theft is a simple confidence trick that uses a number of techniques that understand human nature.

So, the most common types of identity theft target an individuals fear or greed. These are two very powerful emotions that will make people take action. Once these emotions are triggered, the identity theft simply tells the potential victim what to do.

A fear that many people have when they use a computer and the internet is that they may be at risk to identity theft. They understand the potential risk and think that the theft may involve hacking into their computer. Although they don't know exactly how this might happen they try to remain vigilant. This fear is indulged and amplified by identity theft criminals. So when an email arrives that mentions that your bank account was hacked into, all the alarm bells go off. The email suggests you change your password immediately.

It comes as quite a shock. Has money been taken out of my account ? What did the hacker do ? The email goes on to say that you should login to your account and immediately change the password by filling in the form at the bottom of the mail.

Some of these emails are obviously fakes. They don't look very convincing. The email has no genuine logo or header of the company in question. The wording in the email may have spelling mistakes in them or bad grammar. The sending email id may come from a free email id source like hotmail. However, some are incredibly accurate and quite convincing. It is important to remain wary of any such emails regardless of how official they look.

Phishing scams work by presenting an official looking email or directing the intended victim to an authentic looking website. This is the process of building trust or confidence. With trust established the thief will ask for important details from the potential victim. This may be anything from bank account details to a social security number. They can then wreak havoc on their finances or apply for things like credit cards using their identity.

The common practice for most companies is never to ask for personal details via an email. If you receive anything like this it is a hoax and you are best advised to delete it. If a website does ask for personal information it should be secure. A secure website will have a lock logo on it which will lead to information about how they secure their website. Also the name of the particular web page will start with a 'https'.

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