Identity thieves may use simple means such as stealing your purse or wallet or sophisticated means such as social engineering which is a practice of obtaining information under false pretenses. For example, the identity thieves claim to be calling from a marketing research firm requesting personal information. The information is used to contact your bank or financial institution. The following methods define other forms of identity theft.

Electronic methods include:

Malware which is malicious software that is harmful to the normal function of computers. It may send personal information on your computer to unauthorized parties via the Internet. You should only download software and updates from sites you know and trust.

Smishing uses cell phone text messages to deliver a message requiring you to divulge your personal information. Some messages warn that the consumer will be charged unless he cancels his supposed order by going to a Web site that then extracts such credit card numbers and other private data. The method used to actually capture your information in the text message may be a Web site URL; however it has become more common to see a phone number that connects to an automated voice response system.

Phishing occurs when identity thieves send e-mail or pop-up messages pretending to be financial institutions or other legitimate businesses. The e-mails appear to be authentic, but may contain misspellings and/or grammatical errors. They usually request victims to reveal personal information to avoid an account closure or suspension.

Vishing is a practice used to convince individuals over the phone to give up personal information by claiming they are your financial institution calling to verify a change or recent transfer you supposedly performed.

Skimming steals credit or debit card numbers by using a special storage device when processing your card.

Physical methods include:

Going through trash bins for unshredded credit card and loan applications, discarded credit cards and papers containing personal information such as SSNs, dates of birth or phone numbers.

Stealing newly issued credit cards, utility bills, insurance statements, benefits documents or other information from unsecured mailboxes.

Completing a change of address form to divert your mail to another location.

Posing as a loan officer, employer or landlord to obtain your credit report.

Stealing files from your employer, merchants, physician’s office or other businesses that maintain your personal records.

Shoulder surfing at automated teller machines (ATM) to capture personal identification numbers (PIN).

Next: Preventing Identity Theft

Updated Thursday, October 22, 2009

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