It Could Happen To You…

Have you ever typed anything you didn’t want the whole world seeing?  I’m assuming all of us have at one time or another.  Unfortunately, anything we send via email can be seen by our boss, spouse, or even hackers.  Scary thought, huh?

Personally, I have sent a lot of stuff I didn’t want other people seeing.  It began when I was a young teenager gossiping with my girlfriends.  Of course, I didn’t want my mom seeing all that stuff I wrote about boys.  Shortly after, I started talking to the boys on the internet, too.  The last thing I wanted was for her to see my conversations with older boys.  Especially since the common questions asked were if you smoked cigarettes, drank alcohol, smoked weed, did other drugs, ever had sex, etc.  Even though my answers were mostly “no,” my mom wouldn’t have liked seeing some of their answers.  But she couldn’t see my conversations or emails if I closed out of them, right?

 

There was always talk about how parents could somehow tap into your personal information and look at your conversations and emails.  Of course, if you were anything like me, you thought it was too far fetched and would never happen.  You would underestimate your parents and think they would have to be the most savvy computer gurus in town.  Au contraire…  

 

Now I understand why many people think identity theft could never happen to them.  Just like me, they aren’t willing to face the brutal facts of reality.  It is happening.  And it is happening more and more every day.  The total value of identity fraud in the US in 2006 was $56.6 billion.  The average fraud per person was $6,400.  It can happen and it can happen much more easily than most would think.

The internet has become the most common place for criminals to obtain other people’s personal information such as passwords and banking information.  It has been made easier than ever before.  Criminals can conduct false applications for loans and credit cards, fraudulent withdrawals from bank accounts, fraudulent use of telephone calling cards, and much more.  If the criminal goes to the extent of changing the victim’s address, the victim often won’t realize what is happening for months.  By this time, the victim’s credit, assets and reputation may be severely damaged.  The average time spent by victims resolving their problem is 600 hours.  That is almost one month, working around the clock, to fix their identity. 

To avoid this rising problem, take that extra step.  Buy a paper shredder for your pre-approved credit cards and other junk mail.  Make sure you are on a secure site when you provide your personal information.  Keep open eyes for anyone looking over your shoulder when you type your passwords when you are in public.  Be careful when saving passwords on your laptop incase it were to ever get stolen.  Simply, face the brutal facts.  It really does happen, and you could be next.