Identity Theft: A High-Tech Menace

You regularly use credit card to shop and dine. You pay your bills regularly. One day, you experience a shock of life to see an astronomical bill. After enquiry, you learn that your identity is stolen. Someone else has purchased goods! Sounds unbelievable? It is not! Incidences like this occur fairly regularly in markets such as the US and the UK. Now, they are assuming alarming proportions in India too! The crooks exploit the vulnerabilities in the system and carelessness of individuals and steal! There are ingenious ways such as phishing, skimming, shoulder surfing, keystroke logging and dumpster diving. Mail is sent to unsuspecting customers which look as if they are sent from authentic financial service provider. In reality, they are sent by thieves who ask passwords for important transactions. The websites are duplicated; and users are directed to those websites, which asks sensitive information. Individuals look over shoulders and note down your credit card numbers, date of birth and CVV numbers, while you are busy talking over phone. Enterprising thieves rummage through the garbage can to know the account numbers. Whole excel sheet of sensitive information is hacked. The thievery is becoming increasingly sophisticated. These phenomena have worried the Governments who are busy cautioning people and preparing laws to prevent identity theft. The book throws light on this sophisticated thievery and ways to prevent it. The first section takes readers through the ways by which the crime is perpetrated, while the second section provides useful information about ways to prevent identity theft.