Once your personal or financial information has been compromised, it may take months and even years to secure them again. This may involve filing fraud case with your bank, information everyone about your stolen SSN and generally avoiding credit cards or debit card transactions. This is indeed a major problem getting one's identity and peace of mind back once it has been compromised. For this reason prevention is the best way of protecting identity online. There are several ways in which this can be done.
1. Anti-Virus software
Internet users must have a genuinely brilliant and secure anti-virus program installed. Instead of copying free versions online, it is better to purchase a copy of licensed software and use it on your computer. This will help protect against hacker attacks and also alert the user when a suspicious web site appears. Anti-virus software also check for security certificates and inform users when a site's certificate has expired so customers can refrain from making transactions through the site.
2. Spam Mail
One of the biggest sources of identity theft is spam email. It is best not to open any email that appears suspicious. Even if it doesn't appear suspicious but asks for information that you do not want to disclose, simply ignore the email. Opening an email is not as damaging as clicking on any links that it may contain. Thus do not click on any hyperlinks even if you have accidentally opened some suspicious email.
3. Protection against phishing
The best way to seek protection from phishing attacks is to simply call up the customer service of the company that claims to be the sender. Call them and find out if they actually...
In more cases than not, their answer will be in the negative and that's when you can pass on that email to the actual email address of the company so they can inform others of possible fraud.
4. Craigslist scam
It is important to know that when you place a free classified ad, there is a possibility that your personal or financial information may reach unintended recipients. Some fraudster might contact you purporting interest in your advertisement and may ask for your personal information. In some cases, for example when offering tutoring services, the fraudster may even ask for your bank account information so they can pay you for tutoring their child in the future. These are all attempts at getting access to personal information of the user which may later be abused. Then be extremely careful when you respond to any emails that you receive in response to any free classified advertisement you have posted online.
References
Javelin Strategy & Research, 2007 Identity Fraud Survey Report, February 2008.
Gartner, Inc., "Gartner Survey Shows Phishing Attacks Escalated in 2007; More than $3 Billion Lost to These Attacks," http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=565125.
Kristin Finklea, 2009. Identity Theft, Trends and Issues. Congressional Research Service.
Finklea, 2009
Gartner, Inc., "Gartner Survey Shows Phishing Attacks Escalated in 2007; More than $3 Billion Lost to These Attacks," Dec. 17, 2007. http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=565125.
Javelin Strategy & Research, 2007 Identity Fraud Survey Report, February 2008.
