|
If you have been the victim of identity theft, or you know someone who has been victimized, you might wonder how it happened. There has been so much written about the dangers of identity theft and what you can do to protect yourself that it seems people should not make the mistakes they are making. The problem is that the identity thieves are good at what they do. They have a bag of tricks that helps them get the information about you that they need. The more you know about these tricks, the safer you will be. You may wonder how do identity thieves get your information, but the easiest way for them to accomplish this is to ask. If you offer them the information, they will take it. No one is going to provide private information to someone who says they are going to use it to steal your identity, but there are other ways that people give this information out willingly. It will surprise many people how easy it is for the identity thieves to get people to give them information. Many people do it without thinking and do not realize the mistake they have made until it is too late. Spoofing The identity thieves will call people on the telephone and claim they are a representative of a government agency, a bank, or some other company that people will trust. They will claim that there is a problem with your account or with your information and they will ask you to verify the information they have on file so they can help you out. The thieves are not with any official agency. They are hoping you will trust them and give them the information they need to steal your identity. To avoid becoming a victim of spoofing, never give out personal information to someone that calls you. If you want to find out whether the call is legitimate, contact the agency the caller says they are from yourself before you provide the details they are asking for. Phony Websites Identity thieves will set up websites whose sole purpose is to collect your private information. They will often create sites that look like real websites that you use. Banking websites and credit card websites can be created that will fool most people. If you land on this website, you may provide information that can be used for identity theft. To know how to prevent identity theft from a phony website, learn how the thieves get you to the website. They may send out emails that contain a link to the site. The email will claim to be from your credit card and say that there is an issue that needs your attention. The link they provide will direct you to the phony site. Never click on a link in an email. Always type in the address for your banking website yourself. Spyware and Malware When you want to know how to protect yourself from identity theft, you need to know how to protect your computer. Identity thieves will turn to software that is called spyware or malware to collect information from your computer. They will try to get you to download the software that can collect all of the private information that is stored on your computer. The spyware will be running on your computer and you will not know it. The thief will retrieve the information that the spyware collects and use it to steal your identity. There are two ways to protect your computer from spyware. Make sure you have a good security program installed on your computer and do not download anything that you are not completely sure is safe. Identity thieves are not going to stop trying to get your private information. If you do not want to become a victim of identity theft, you have to stay vigilant. You need to make sure that you do not make a simple mistake that puts your private information at risk. It only takes one time for an identity thief to get what they need to cause you a lot of trouble. Jana Lynn is an active blogger who is fond of writing articles on credit monitoring and educating people to monitor their monthly credit report to prevent you to be a victim of credit fraud. Follow her on Twitter to know more on how do identity thieves get your information.
Related Articles -
how to protect yourself from identity theft, How Do Identity Thieves Get Your Information, how to prevent identity theft,
| 
