How To Protect Your Identity: Identity Theft Defined
Paul Wilcox
There are many things or personal possessions that can be owned. Sometimes these items have been purchased, received as gifts or passed down from generation to generation.
Those things may have a monetary value, they may have a sentimental value. They may be things like pictures or heirlooms that would be worth little to anyone other than the people who know their history.
The down side of owning things of value is that they may be susceptible to theft. Sometimes theft can be broadly defined as items lost to a fire, flood, earthquake, etc. In addition, there is an element in society made up of individuals who steal from others and can rob law abiding individuals of their prized possessions.
One of the most personal things that can be stolen from you is your identity. Identity theft is becoming more and more of a problem, and the first step in preventing it is to understand what it is.
Just What Is Identity Theft, Anyway?
In order to be aware of identity theft, provide protection and prosecute those who steal another's identity, it is important to define identity theft. Identity theft is that action or actions taken by another for the purpose of misrepresenting themselves as that individual in order to commit fraudulent acts. Those fraudulent acts can include the illegal accessing of that person's financial accounts or committing acts of crime. Those acts of crime could include creating new credit cards accounts, obtaining a loan, etc.
One of the most common impacts of identity theft is financial loss of some sort. Identity theft can affect your finances and credit rating when the thieves are able to access your bank accounts, credit cards and other private information.
In addition, if not addressed quickly, an identity theft victim will have to deal with damage perpetuated on their good name. Often this damage is reflected in credit ratings, possible criminal activity, employment interviews, etc. Although the victim is innocent, often it takes months or even years for the devastating effects of the identity theft to be cleared.
How Identity Theft Occurs
Additionally, when asked to define identity theft, it may be beneficial to discuss how identity theft occurs. Often identity theft takes place when critical pieces of information are obtained from the individual who is being stalked by an identity theft thief.
These pieces of critical information are generally identification numbers or data that only the owner of that information is privy to. Some of those numbers could be social security numbers, personal identification numbers (PINs), passwords, a mother's maiden name, date of birth, etc.
If an identity thief gets hold of this information, they can impersonate you to banks, credit card companies and other services. Don't ever give this information out to anyone who shouldn't have it.
Often a company is very clear that they will never ask for these sensitive numbers unless the customer has initiated the call. In addition, often a company will only ask for the last four numbers of a person's 9 digit social security number.
Your trash is another source of this information for identity thieves. Don't ever throw out papers with personal information on it - make sure you shred it thoroughly first.
Looking for more information about how to stop http://www.onlinesecuritytoolkit.com/ identity theft? Learn more about how you can protect yourself from becoming a victim of identity theft at the http://www.onlinesecuritytoolkit.com/ Online Security Toolkit website. This and other http://www.uberarticles.com/?id=25828&b=79 unique content 'internet security' articles are available with free reprint rights.
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