| Identity theft crimes are not new, but they | | | | requirement for identity theft protection. |
| have become more persuasive in the past | | | | Never write down personal identification |
| decade. One of the most insidious forms of | | | | numbers (PINs) or passwords. Do not use your |
| white-collar crime, identity theft is a | | | | Social Security number or any such |
| federal offense under the Identity Theft and | | | | easy-to-guess combinations. Avoid using the |
| Assumption Deterrence Act. It occurs when | | | | same password for different accounts.b) |
| someone deliberately assumes an individual's | | | | Effective identity theft protection is now a |
| personal identity to impersonate that person | | | | necessary part of doing business on the web. |
| in a legal sense. Stealing someone's identity | | | | Therefore, when ordering online, it is |
| enables the thief to make a frightening | | | | preferable to use PayPal, instead of credit |
| number of financial and personal transactions | | | | or debit cards, because of the propinquity |
| in someone else's name, leaving the victim | | | | with which these cards give an imposter |
| responsible for what might turn out to be a | | | | access to the cash in your bank account.c) |
| mind-boggling turmoil in his or her life. | | | | Another good practice for identity theft |
| | | | protection delineates that before purchasing |
| Someone once said, "The devil is in the | | | | online make sure that the site has a secure |
| details, and the truth lies somewhere in | | | | server. Secure pages begin with https instead |
| between". Details such as your name, age, | | | | of http, with a picture of a lock appearing |
| sex, physical description, mailing address, | | | | in the lower right status bar. To verify the |
| Social Security, and driver license number | | | | name of the server that appears on the |
| are everything a swindler needs to create | | | | digital certificate, double-click the lock |
| your shadow identity, enabling him to buy | | | | icon, and then check the name that appears |
| merchandise, take loans and make other | | | | next to "Issued to", if the name appearing |
| financial transactions, while you get stuck | | | | next to "Issued to" is different from the |
| with the bad credit. The old X-Files motto | | | | name of the site that you thought provides |
| "Trust No One" is especially meaningful for | | | | the page, close the browser to leave the |
| identity theft protection on the web. You | | | | site.d) Be sure to shred all documents that |
| must learn to depend on yourself for identity | | | | have important information on them such as |
| theft protection and minimize your risk by | | | | account numbers, social security numbers, |
| performing the following tasks:a) Memorize | | | | etc. Do not simply discard this information |
| your passwords. This is the most basic | | | | into the trash. |