Identity Theft - The Risks Are Increasing

Identity fraud is a very real threat with around 275 people each day being affected over the last 6 months in the UK alone. These figures are up on last year and they are expected to keep rising. This kind of crime continues to increase in popularity because it is faceless which makes it harder to find the people who are committing the crime.

What is identity theft?

Identity theft is when someone manages to get hold of your personal information and use your details to make financial transactions online. The cyber criminals can empty your bank accounts and run up debts by buying expensive products online. Trying to prove that you did not buy the goods or spend the money in your account can take a long time to put right. Unfortunately when it comes to id theft you are guilty until proven innocent and with this kind of crime increasing the banks can't keep picking up the bill.

When questioned, most people are worried about identity theft due to the financial devastation it can cause but people are less worried about internet security. This is irrational as quite often identity theft occurs online.

Taking the right internet security measures can greatly reduce the risk of you being a victim of identity theft. The World Wide Web is the fastest growing area for criminals and people have yet to connect that the acts they perform online can leave a trail for internet fraudsters.

Every time you purchase something online or update your Facebook profile you could be vulnerable to attack. This is why it is so important when you purchase goods online you use companies that are secure and use secure payment systems. One way to check you are in a secure area is to look in the address bar if the URL of the site you are on starts https:// then you are in a secure area which means the data you are entering is being encrypted.

Stay Safe Online

Criminals today are very clever they search the web for personal information and continuously come up with new ways to get hold of bank details and passwords. A very common technique used by cyber criminals are emails that appear to be from banks. They use very believable language, which if you are caught unaware get you to enter all of your account details. However these emails are not from your bank they are from a criminal who sends out millions of emails hoping that some people will fall for it.

By using a quality internet security product you can help keep your identity safe online so you don't end up a statistic.

An antivirus review can help to keep you safe and aware of the latest online threats.