Sure-Fire Way to Eliminate Internet Identity Theft

by Andre Bell

Published on this site: November 7th, 2005 - See more articles from this month

Are you worried about protecting your online identity?

You should be.

According to the Wall Street Journal identity theft affects as many as 10 million Americans and costs individuals and businesses $55 billion annually. That means with a 34% increase in broadband users for last year and 45% increase in DSL subscribers, online attacks continue to rise.

What can you do to make sure your identity doesn't get stolen? Learn to recognize the most common dangers the thieves exploit to steal millions of dollars from you, and then take steps to protect yourself.

When most people think of online attacks they assume the attacks are initiated from outside of their computers, far across the internet. That is not always true.

When I was on the high school wrestling team I had a Japanese buddy who studied judo. He showed me that instead of wasting all my energy, the most effective method for taking down an opponent was to use the opponents own momentum and body against him.

The same is true with internet identity theft. Thieves use your inexperience against you. Instead of burning all their energy trying to attack you from the outside, they trick you into doing things that leave you vulnerable.

You may think most people know not to give away their banking information, social security number, credit card numbers, and other identity online. But the thieves are very clever.

They first setup fake web pages that look exactly like real eBay, PayPal, Wells Fargo Bank, or other financial institution.

Then they email you claiming they need you to login to verify your personal information or to protect your account because someone supposedly is using your identity or account in some foreign nation.

They urge you to login ASAP so they can stop further theft from your account. So you click the link, the site looks legit, you login with a legitimate account information, and then mistakenly give away your social security number and bank accounts and other contact information. They then rob you blind and steal your identity.

Never click a link in email and then give away your personal information or login information. Always use your browser to go directly to the official site of eBay, PayPal, or wherever and then login with your information. That way no matter how `legit' an email may sound, you will never become a victim of such email scams.

Another scam is to claim it is from a member of some international government or company seeking to launder money into your country. They tell you you've been selected to help smuggle millions of dollars into your country in exchange for a portion of the funds if you will just keep quiet.

What they are really doing is trying to get you to give up your identity and `bait' you into giving up your cash.

Think it doesn't work?

One such scam has bilked Americans out of 10 million dollars all by itself. And to think, there are thousands of such scams being used worldwide.

Use a little common sense. No one is going to give away millions of dollars to a complete stranger. They are simply trying to goat you into participating in their scams so they can rob you.

Another method for stealing your identity is Spyware.

Spyware is software that does just what it sounds like. It spies on you.

Spyware can collect your credit card and banking information, it can watch what web sites you go to, it can keep track of absolutely everything you type on your keyboard, and it can watch how you use your computer-even when you are offline-all without your permission.

How does spyware get on your computer? You or your family installed it either when you downloaded `free' games, those cute cursor arrows, email smiley faces, screen savers, one of the thousands of free software programs, or visited certain web sites that are notorious for installing spyware without your permission.

One way or another, your actions are what triggered the installation of spyware.

See my article, How To Kill Spyware for an explanation of how to protect yourself from this threat and how to remove traces of spyware that are now lurking on your computer. That way spyware will not threaten your privacy.

A third method of attack involves exploiting your internet connection.

Hackers run `bots' and scanners from across the internet that constantly look for areas of your computer that are wide open or can be forced open through mistakes in your operating system or other software running on your computer.

You can plug most of these common exploits by getting a firewall and by frequently updating your version of Microsoft Windows.

You can update Windows by going to http://update.microsoft.com. If nothing else, get the critical updates. Those are the updates that block known exploits and lock hackers out of your computer (hopefully they have not already gotten in).

Using fake websites, appealing to a sense of greed, spyware, and hacking weaknesses in your computer are just four identity theft threats that are used against you.

Once you gain the knowledge to protect yourself and take the steps to do so you will never need to fear becoming a victim of identity theft ever again. You can simply say, `What, me worry? Never!

Andre Bell is an author and Microsoft Certified Professional who has worked as a system administrator, an independent computer technician, and as a technical support specialist for UPS. He has authored The Internet Identity Theft Protection DVD. To request a free copy of this DVD go to www.noidtheft.net/free