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History Of Identity Theft Advances With Technology
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While identity theft is nothing new, thieves have been stealing innocent peoples identity throughout history. However, advances in technology have made it easier for thieves to steal information for identity thefts crimes.
Before modern times, a thief would usually kill the victim and assume their identity. And they didnt have to worry about if they looked like the victim or not since there were no photo identification cards.
As time passed, criminals learned they could obtain enough information about a person from the trash without the need for killing the victim. Dumpster diving as it is most commonly called, allowed them to obtain bank statements, credit card information and most everything else they needed to represent themselves as someone else.
As the history of identity theft matured, thieves took to stealing directly from the mailbox, keeping an eye out on days bank statements usually went out. This method was just as successful but did not share the dirt that was evident in dumpster diving.
Telemarketing brought another wave of criminals into the history of identity theft as they could call people telling them they won a prize or were from a charitable organization calling about a donation. When they first started it was easy to convince people to give out personal information for verification purposes and then use it to open credit card accounts, buy houses and other forms of illegal financial transactions.
Internet Opens Doors Wide For Identity Theft
When people started conducting personal transactions online, thieves found a new source for stealing information. They began to hack into banking sites to obtain personal information. Banking sites then began using tougher security controls leaving thieves to find more intuitive ways to steal information.
One such ploy is to send fraudulent emails to individuals. These fraudulent emails look like they are from legitimate financial institutions and ask for personal information such as log in and password. Some unsuspecting individuals share their information this way, allowing identity theft to continue.
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