Beware! Identity Theft can ruin your reputation !

One out of every five people worldwide is on a social networking website and your identity and reputation are at RISK without you knowing it!

Technology makes our lives more convenient! But with increasing convenience and information flow, it also makes us vulnerable. Growing urban population and ever evolving technology poses a challenge and makes fighting cyber crimes and imperative. 

Our personal information e.g. name, date of birth, addresses, phone numbers, email IDs etc as well as sensitive financial information is pervasive and can be easily accessible online and offline.

And it is not difficult to foresee how such easily available information, can be used to commit the simplest form of identity theft and fraud, such as pretending to be someone else and taking a mobile phone connection, or opening a social network profile or even re-directing someone bank and card statements and bills to another address. And the internet makes access to personal and financial information simpler!

One out of every five people worldwide, are on a social networking website. With internet penetration in India crossing the landmark 100 million mark, Indian netizens are hopping onto them as well with equal gusto. Facebook, Linkedin, Google+, Orkut are pervasive today, especially amongst the young educated population of India. And it is an established trend for people to take risks online. 

People often play with their online identities in a manner that they would never dream of, in the real world and this puts them at RISK for identity and online reputation thefts – says Asgar Patel victim of online reputation slander and he added – Beware yourself of too much online exposure.

For those uninitiated on how ID theft can happen, in the online world there are numerous website where your personal information is lying without your knowledge and in less secure environments, for fraudsters to misuse it, to their advantage. From crude methods to well organised scams, identity theft, online reputation slander works in a range of ways.

Taking a case in point, wedding is a big business proposition in India. Burgeoning Matrimonial websites in India have a have great business potential, however, these websites are a goldmine of personal information and most members might find themselves becoming victims of Identity thieves and fraudsters. Matrimonial websites tend to attract young men and women across the country and users create personal profile replete with information based on nationality, age, gender, religion, economic standard, job status, height, family background, and photograph. With this sensitive personal information, fraudsters can cause considerable damage be it to damage someone’s reputation or financially by buying a phone connection or procuring a credit card pretending to be someone else, with the information they have access to. 

And the victim would not know about it until it’s too late! As per a news article, an accused terrorist confessed to have obtained SIM cards with forged papers created by gathering information on a matrimonial website. Stealing an identity is, unfortunately, surprisingly easy to do and happens when one least expects it! Protecting oneself is therefore very important. 

If someone’s identity is stolen, it can take months or even years to recover from the disorder they leave behind. The number of new cases of identity theft is on the rise. This relatively new trend is the result of internet’s influence, by easing access to sensitive personal information.

>> There are 112 million claimed Internet users in India, source ComScore; Internet in India, 2011

>> Credit and Debit cards can be applied for in the name of another individual

>> Fraudulent bank loans could be taken out in the name of the victim

>> Phone connections can be taken to carry out forgery and other frauds

>> A multiple range of debts can be incurred in victim’s name

>> Email ids and social networks profiles can be created using false information

>> The information can be used in various illegal activities in victim’s name

>> Illegal acts can be performed by applying for new driver’s licenses or passport

CPP offers these warnings to help people stay safe and protect themselves. Most identity theft victims don’t come to know of the fraud until long after the incident. They dismiss possible indicators as mistakes or mix-ups and take no corrective measures like:

Unexpected verification call from a bank or a service provider

>> A warning or notice from a bank or service provider

>> Unexplained entries in your Credit Report

>> Debit of small amounts in bank statements

>> Unfamiliar purchases in your card statement

>> Receiving a statement or bill for a service you don’t have

Act Fast or Get to the Point Of No Return:

>> Do not disclose your personal details beyond what is essential, online or on social networks.

>> Do not respond to suspicious emails asking for your personal details and never disclose your bank, credit/debit card details and PIN numbers to anybody online or offline.

>> There are 112 million claimed Internet users in India

>> Ensure you use adequate updated antivirus software.

>> If you receive a request from a friend or family member stranded while on holiday asking you to transfer money to them, contact them by phone or alternative contact to verify the request is genuine before sending any money or providing personal details.

>> Regularly check your credit card and/or bank statements to ensure that suspicious transactions are detected.

>> Shred all documents containing personal information, such as credit card and bank statements.

>> Log directly onto websites you are interested in rather than clicking on links provided

in an email.

>> Read your credit report from time to time to track any suspicious changes.

Identity theft can have grave, sometimes devastating repercussions for its victims, ranging from financial loss, damaged credit ratings to loss of reputation. In a time when more and more information is being shared online, the security of personal information is very important. 

Be careful with your personal information, since becoming a victim of identity theft can take months and even years to straighten out!

Learn more about identity theft at www.cibilconsultants.com

Ways to Avoid Online Identity Theft

In today's cyber world, where most of your personal information is online, it's easy for fraudsters to steal and misuse it. Here's a look at the way they can trick you and what you can do to protect yourself.

How your identity can be stolen?

SHOULDER SURFING

As the name suggests, it's simply someone looking over your shoulder or using a mobile phone to click a photo while you are using your credit card, keying in your PIN at an ATM, filling up important information in a form or cheque, or just typing your password.

WIRELESS IDENTITY THEFT

Also known as RFID (radio frequency identification) theft, it steals the personal information that is stored on cards with RF chips embedded in them, such as your office ID tags.

PHARMING

A domain is hijacked by a criminal, who then steals the data of any user who accesses the website.

MALWARE

It stands for malicious software and includes anything that can be used to gain access to your PC and steal data from it. This could be through spyware, keyloggers, Trojan horse, adware, worm or virus. It disguises itself as something innocuous and stays hidden in your PC.

PHISHING

An e-mail from a seemingly reliable and known source will direct you to a phony website that looks legitimate. It will ask you to input personal data and finances to access the site, and then steal that information.

VISHING

A fraudster pretends to call up from your bank or service provider claiming to need your personal details because they are upgrading you or updating data.

SKIMMING

The secret information in the magnetic strip of your credit/debit card is copied and then used on a counterfeit card.

SMISHING

You will receive a text message on your mobile phone informing you of a service that you have signed up for or stopped. If you click on the link provided or call the number given, you will be told that you can proceed only after providing essential information.

How to protect yourself?

Here are 8 ways to be vigilant and safeguard your identity.

TEAR IT UP

Scrutinize all correspondence from financial institutions and shred it . Ensure all such e-mails are protected by passwords. Tear your ATM slips and cancelled cheques, don't just crumple them when you throw them in the trash.

WIPE EVERYTHING

Before disposing of your old gadgets, completely wipe out the memory or any data on it. Even an SMS or mail from your bank can be misused. Remove sensitive data before lending your phone, laptop or pen drives.

CALL BACK

Don't give out personal details no matter who calls you up. Log in to the website or call the customer care yourself. Bookmark websites used often so that you can access them directly rather than through a 'phishy' e-mail.

VIRTUAL PASSWORDS

Use virtual keyboards to input your passwords. Change these frequently and use different ones for various websites. Hackers access online forums or blogs to hack passwords because people usually use the same passwords for everything.

Source: Secondary