Also called “carding” or “spoofing,” the practice known as “phishing” is a high-tech scam in which identity thieves pose as legitimate businesses and services and request your personal information, which they may use to assume various forms of legal or financial responsibility in your name. Most often, these requests come in the form of e-mails or pop-up screens that ask you to validate or update your personal information. E-mail scams may also carry worms or viruses that can further harm you by planting potentially damaging viruses in your computer system. They look legitimate, and they direct you to official-looking Web pages that seem to be created by or affiliated with organizations with whom you do business. Unfortunately, they’re not. Remember: legitimate companies will not send you e-mails asking for sensitive personal information. Do not reply to such e-mails or click on any links in these messages. When in doubt, contact the company directly by phone.
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Is It Possible To Be A Victim Of Identity Theft And Not Know It Immediately?
Posted on November 5, 2010.
Most people do not find out for at least 2 – 3 weeks – some never find out
I know people who didn’t find out for a year, you know they had a lot of names to go through !
Yes! Actually, that’s what happens most of it. You know it when its too late.
Some people don’t know until years later. A friend didn’t find out until she applied for a loan for her car and discovered 10 credit cards she knew nothing about, student loans she never took out, etc. It took her more than 5 years to sort out the mess. Another friend was visited by the police regarding a warrant out for her arrest for fraud – same name, same birthdate. But my friend is African American and 5’7″ and the person who committed the crime in her name was a white woman who was reported to be 5’2″ – 5’4″ according to various police reports. Also the crimes were mainly committed in Florida and Georgia and my friend has never been to either state. She has no idea how this happened