Identity Theft And Fraud: Is It Worse Online?

While computers and the internet have come to be an accepted part of our daily lives there are still many people who want no parts of them.

There are several complaints to go along with this. The perceived lack of privacy in the form of having to provide personal information and then believing rightly or not that their information is now ready to broadcast across the world wide web. Or just that Big Brother is watching you from the other side of your monitor has many people saying thanks but no thanks.

Still another one is identity theft.  The same personal information you type in becomes a goldmine to identity thieves. Places like  MySpace, Paypal and Ebay have been stung by these scammers but the real victims are the people using these services.

Also thieves have made the news by hacking their way into countless computer databases. The most recent one being Network Solutions. Over five hundred thousand people that bought something from the company website have had their credit card information stolen.  Shortly before this incident the University of California at Berkeley reported a data breach that has put one hundred and sixty thousand students, alumni and staff at risk. It is no wonder that many people want to stay as far away from computers as possible.

Except being internet free is no comfort. According to the Better Business Bureau and Javelin Strategy & Research despite these occurrences the majority of identity theft is still occurring offline.

The most common is a wallet or purse that has been lost or stolen. But it does not stop there. Fifty percent of all identity theft victims know the person responsible for the theft. A relative for instance whom you trust so much that you give them carte blanche into your living space. They use that trust to snoop around your house and see if they can snag some of your personal information. Little things that are highly valuable but you would not necessarily miss right off.

Sometimes thieves just take what they need right out of your mailbox. Other times they simply take it right out of your trash can. Identity thieves know a lot of people are not necessarily careful about what they throw away. Going thru your trash (also known as dumpster diving) for a number of these thieves is the equivalent of hitting the lottery. Receipts, old financial statements that may have been torn up but not necessarily shredded and countless other goodies await the experienced criminal.

The irony according to the Better Business Bureau and Javelin is that people who monitor their financial information online are at less risk. They were also to discover any irregularities a lot faster than those offline who still rely exclusively on paper statements.

This is not to say that being online is completely risk free. It is not. No doubt as the technology gets more sophisticated the statistics of online identity theft will go up. But these concerns should not be an obstacle to jumping aboard the world wide web. If anything it just means you have to be careful in your dealings. Online or off.