There are 2 kinds of “gifted computer programmers.” One programmer programs to protect while the other programmer programs to hack. These hackers hack a system neither for good reasons nor good intentions but to, more often than not, steal other people’s identity and create loan applications or purchase grocery items under an innocent victim’s name. Nobody wants to have their identities stolen. And this is mainly because first, it means facing court trials to prove innocence and second, because you cannot afford to have a low credit score.
You may not know it, but the old guy next to you in the bus station can be an identity thief. The point is; they can be anybody (your friend, your friendly neighbor or even the smiling cashier at your favorite caf). The worse thing is, they can even be part of an identity theft ring or an organization of 5-10 people with the same motto in life (to steal from unsuspecting victims) that may even be related to an even bigger mafia connected to other countries.
How does the “stealing” begin?
Couple of month back I received a mail from RentACoder.com on my Hotmail account saying that the said website is offering me $100 for something that I do not remember now. I knew it was a scam to get my username and password, so I went ahead to mark it SPAM, but on the second thought, I changed my mind and decided to click on the link to see how a scam website looks.
The scam website was 100 percent identical to the homepage of RentAcoder.com, except for one thing. Instead of showing https://www.rentacoder.com, the address bar showed some other URL. This is one form of Scamming, there are many such things happening on the net. My goal in this article is to tell you how to stay safe from such scams.
The fact is, our existing identification systems are insufficiently secure, and our identifying documents are easily copied. Anyone with a computer, scanner and printer can recreate an ID. Outdated systems exasperate the problem by making it too easy to obtain a real ID at the DMV, with either legitimate or falsified information.
“In Houston, Authorities have arrested three people accused of producing fake documents apparently destined for use in identity theft and fraud in Houston.
Harris County District Attorney Patricia Lykos said Monday that the suspects ran four fraudulent document businesses, including two operated out of a flea market.
Houston police and officials from the identity theft section of the district attorney’s office conducted the two-week operation. Undercover officers posing as customers were able to obtain IDs using real and fictitious names.
They confiscated Social Security cards and ID cards from Texas and other states.”
OMG! “incl
27 Dec
Posted by admin as Financial Articles
In case you have indications that your identity was used fraudulently, you need to take the following action immediately. These steps will assure your good credit rating is restored and you increase your credit score to its original value. The action has four specific steps which will be outlined next. For all of these steps, you need to follow up calls in writing by certified mail and make sure you also ask for a return receipt. You need to keep a file with copies of all correspondence and documentation.
1) Contact any one of the credit reporting agencies to review the latest credit report and look them over in detail. You will at the same time create a fraud alert on your credit report. This will prevent those that stole your identity from opening any other accounts on your name. You should know that the credit bureau you contacted is required by law to contact the other two and have them also place an alert on the credit report they have (there are usually different versions each one has because not all creditors report to all three).