Technology and ID Theft: A Perfect Match

by Craig Peters, Contributing Writer   

These first years of the 21st century have witnessed a stunning increase in identity theft.

In 2000, the Federal Trade Commission's Consumer Sentinel database reported 31,117 identity theft complaints1 — a number that increased more than eightfold by 2007 to 258,427 complaints.2 Internet-related fraud complaints have similarly increased, from 33,446 in 2001 to 221,226 in 2007.2

Why is there so much ID theft? One part of the answer lies in a single word: technology. It enables thieves to easily gather information that can be used to compromise your identity. Here are just a few ways technology has become an ID thief's best friend:

  • Online databases. Countless companies and government agencies have moved massive amounts of personal information online. That's made the retrieval of this information incalculably easier.

    For example, you can take a person's name and address and, in just a few minutes and for a few dollars, know all about their criminal records, relatives, bankruptcies, driver's license, income and political party affiliation — you can even get data about hunting, fishing and concealed weapons permits.
  • Phishing expeditions. It takes just a little effort to set up a website that looks very official and secure, yet is designed to capture personal information from unsuspecting site visitors who believe it's authentic.

    After setting up such a site, an ID thief can send out millions of e-mails, each of them looking like an authentic message from PayPal, the government or a well-known bank.
  • Hack attacks. Tech-savvy thieves can hack you in many ways. Your laptop? A wireless network can provide easy access to your data. Your phone? Tricking your caller ID into displaying the local bank's phone number is easier than you think. That computer you just threw out? If you left the hard drive in it, any personal data on there is easily retrievable.

The rise of technology has revolutionized the way people communicate. It's also revolutionized the way criminals steal. Your best defense against ID thieves is education and awareness — not to mention an abundance of caution in your own use of technology.

Let's be careful out there.

Footnotes

 1 "National and State Trends in Fraud and Identity Theft," Federal Trade Commission, January 23, 2003
2 "Consumer Fraud and Identity Theft Complaint Data, January - December 2007," Federal Trade Commission, February 2008