Identity Theft - Who Is The Weakest Link In The Chain


by Sebanti Ghosh - Date: 2007-03-26 - Word Count: 299 Share This!

'Identity Theft' is a term used for the event when some bad guy steals your sensitive information without your knowledge, misuses it and tries to harm you financially.

For example Mr. 'X' is checking his e-mails as usual and when he opens his inbox, he finds an email saying that it is from the company he purchased some stuff last week from. To process some information they need his credit card no. Mr. 'X' replies to the message with all the information asked. This company disappears suddenly and Mr. 'X' gets the heavy amount of bill this month, all what he did not buy. Mr. 'X', completely unaware what went wrong goes into depression.

This was a simple example, where we tried to explain how bad guys can steal your sensitive information and give you a nightmare.

Some people may think that online identity theft is quite impossible as almost every bank spends thousands of dollars on Internet security now a days . But sad to say, we have to understand that in this chain 'humans' are the weakest link.

Another term for this kind of identity theft is called as 'Phishing' or 'Social Engineering'. There are a lot of ways that bad guys can approach you to steal your sensitive information.

Please bear some basic rules in mind to avoid identity theft. Never ever give your credit card number in any sort of online communication like chatting or email, no matter, who asks for it.

Be very careful when you handover your credit card to others for bill payments etc. Always remember that only card number, its expiry date and some 4 digits at the back of your card are enough to make any online transaction.

So be very careful and handover your card to others only under your supervision. That will help you a lot.


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