Identity theft has become an increasingly popular crime in Canada as a result of recent advances theft has become an increasingly popular crime in Canada as a result of recent advances in technology. Identity invloves stealing, misrepresenting or hijacking the identity of another person or business and provides an effective means to commit other crimes.Vital information such as name, address, date of birth, social insurance number, and mother's maiden name need to be acquired in order to complete the impersonation. The identity theif can take over the victim's financial accounts. open new bank accounts, tranfer bank balances, apply for loans. credit cards and other services, purchase vehicles, take luxury vacations, and so on.
Once stolen, the personal information can be used to take over or create financial accounts, transfer bank balances, apply for loans and credit or purchase goods and services. Identity theives may also present or create documents such as birth certificates or immigration documents to obtain benefits such as healthcare, education, social assistance and public pensions.
Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personal information without your knowledge or consent to commit a crime, such as fraud or theft.Identity thieves steal key pieces of personal information — either physically or in other ways, without your knowledge and use it to impersonate you and commit crimes in your name.
Identity thieves can manipulate your information and invade your personal and financial life. They can use stolen identities to conduct spending sprees, open new bank accounts, divert mail, apply for loans, credit cards and social benefits, rent apartments and even commit more serious crimes.
In addition to names, addresses and phone numbers, thieves look for:
- social insurance numbers
- driver's licence numbers
- credit card and banking information
- bank cards; calling cards
- birth certificates
- passports
Tips on how to avoid being victims of Identity theft:
- sign all credit cards when you receive them
- never loan your credit cards to anyone
- cancel credit cards you do not use and keep a list of the ones you use regularly
- immediately report lost or stolen credit cards and any discrepancies in your monthly statements to the issuing credit card company
- never leave receipts at bank machines, bank wickets, in trashcans, or at unattended gasoline pumps; ensure you destroy paperwork you no longer need
- never provide personal information such as SIN, date of birth, credit card numbers, or PIN over the telephone unless you initiate the call
- promptly remove mail from your ‘secure’ mailbox after delivery and do not leave pieces of mail lying around your residence or work site
- shred or otherwise destroy pre-approved credit card applications, credit card receipts, bills and related information when no longer needed
- avoid keeping a written record of your bank PIN number(s), social insurance number and computer passwords, and never keep this information in your wallet or hand bag
- avoid mail or telephone solicitations disguised as promotions or surveys offering instant prizes or awards designed for the purpose of obtaining your personal details including credit card numbers
Identity theft complaints (2005)
Provinces
Victims $Loss
Ont.
4729
$4,450,122.62
Que.
2614
----$1,864,574.23
B.C.
2010
$1,376,499.08
Alta.
894
$431,221.89
Man.
361
$181,490.32
N.S.
177
$100,036.04
Sask.
157
$87,641.63
N.B.
127
$29,107.52
N.L.
58
$43,358.02
P.E.I.
18
$5,907.63
Yukon
3
$1,285.00
Nunavut
1
$0
Totals
11231
$8,575,593.98
Victims of Identity theft stories--- click HERE
YouTube Victim stories--- click HERE
Opinion Questions =)
Why do you think people would steal others identities?
If you were a victim, how would you react?
After reading this blog, what are you going to do to make sure you are not a victim of this fraud?
How many of you have facebook/myspace/e-mail accounts? If you do, don't you add people to your accounts? Well, how do you know the person you are talking to is actually the person who they claim to be?
For example: If you sign onto your facebook account and you notice you have a friend request from a guy you know that goes to your school, and you add him, but months later you find out this person is actually not the person from your school but is actually a petafile? How would you react to this if you were talking to this person online all the time?
By: the one and only <3
17 comments:
Honestly if i were a victim of idenity theft i would would be completly pissed off! i would want to get my money and idenity and everything back, but i would also love to meet the person behind it and make sure they got their punishment.
I agree alex, I would be angry too. The great thing is, if you were a victim of identity theft, their are so many options you can choose from to help you get your identity back. Heres a link that shows the steps you would have to take if you were a victim--- click HERE
Yeah identity theft is just...wrong. People don't consider stuff like accepting a friend add on myspace or facebook and finding out thats not the real person as identity theft, but it is, and its pretty scary. Like i know a few people who have been faked on myspace and it even happened to me, in 2005 some guy named Parker who apparently goes to a school in this area took my pictures, posted them on his page, and said I was his girlfriend and changed my name to "Melanie"!
I was soo scared. But instead of reporting it, i just messaged him and told him he has to get them off, of course in the end he did, but i was still freaked out!!
I'll agree with ah-leks here. A lot of people automatically expect that everyone they meet online is who they say they are. It's so easy to pretend to be someone else. All you have to do is create a profile with someone else's name. It's not as bad if you're not meeting with the person, but it's terrible when you lose money from identity theft. I've had an account for a game stolen before, but it was by a friend that was doing it as a joke. If you've got a shifty friend this could happen to an important account like an Ebay account. They could cause a lot of trouble for you, but they'll most likely get caught unless they are really good at covering their tracks.
Online purchases are kind of dangerous now since there are programs like keyloggers that record everything you type. That's an easy way for a criminal to obtain vital information. Not all sites are safe either. Some online purchase sites steal credit card numbers. The 2005 stats listed are surprising. Over 4 million dollars of lost in Ontario is ridiculous. People need to start being really cautious.
yeeah i definitely agree with aleks too. People always make up fake accounts on myspace and facebook and add a bunch of people, and you would never know. Even someone i know made a fake account to try to play a trick on someone. It's so easy to pretend you're someone else and no one would ever know.
Some people are so desperate to steal someone's identity, they even rummage through trash and dumpsters to find it! Here's the site that talks more about it:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/consumers/about-identity-theft.html
But I definitely think identity theft is very wrong and it is something I would never do.
Exactly, identity theft is wrong and thats why everyone should be very careful about who they are talking to online, or who they are giving their credit card number to. (online shopping would be an example like bradon said)
heres a link with some questions you might have and the answers-
http://www.safecanada.ca/identitytheft_e.asp
Heres a link on an article about online identity theft-
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,118709-page,1/article.html
Personally, I think Identity theft is still really easy to avoid, like, it's just common sense, don't trust what you don't know. No matter how legit something seems, a little bit of paranoia isn't always a bad thing
David, identity theft is not that visible!
In the online enviroment there are lots of scams, but the same can happen in the real world!! One's judgement is not enough to avoid these types of scams, its going on in the medical world as well, takw a look at this case : http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=2NrLryd9o7I
I feel terrible for that mother, shes basically left with a messed up medical record, and it wasn't even her judgement that was impaired, i mean she couldnt have done much to prevernt it right?
I think it ID theft comes with different levels of severity, its onething for someone to steal you ebay account login and use your credit card, you can clear that up and still live, but things like medical ID's are not that easy to fix.
I agree with David. Although it is a sad realization, it’s hard to trust anyone these days …a little paranoia is never a bad thing.
At work I am constantly putting payments through over the phone with customers who will read me their visa number. It would be very easy for me to take this information outside of work (although I NEVER would!). I could simply record their credit card number, call up a random company and order a bunch of stuff pretending to be someone else. It’s ridiculous. As “convenient” as it is to order things via the internet or phone, I believe it should not be allowed. Too many cases of identity thief have occurred.
The medical history and myspace/facebook scenarios just prove that as technology becomes more sophisticated, the more problems arise. There is good and bad side to everything.
I disagree with David. It's not that easy to avoid identity theft. Getting scammed out of your identity is something you could have prevented, but what about the people that create accounts pretending to be you or the people that hack? You've got no control over what other people create. Sometimes these people are so good you might have a hard time proving that you are you! That's when it gets really scary.
Lauren makes a good point. People should never tell others their credit card numbers over the phone. Unfortunately, not everyone is honest, so they might steal it. The phone communication could also get intercepted. This is way less likely to happen, but it could.
To answer Harp's questions from her initial posts, If I was a victim of identity theft, I'd be pretty unhappy. But I definitely wouldn't be surprised cuz I know identity theft is pretty common with as many as 4729 REPORTED CASES in Ontario in 2005. What I didn't know was how easy it was..like Lauren mentioned...about how easily she can get someone's visa #.
And like everyone has been saying on this blog, it is totally easy for ppl to pretend to be someone else.
Here's a site I found of identity theft victim's stories-some of them are pretty fascinating.
http://www.privacyrights.org/cases/victim.ht
A while back, I was watching CHCH news and they were talking about how a business left a see through bag full of papers with a lot of the clients' personal information on it outside to be thrown out. It was totally visible and UNSHREDDED! Which would have made it REALLY easy to take it all. So it just goes to show that it's not just you that can mess up and have yr identity stolen...it could be the fault of businesses that have all yr info too.
Here's another article I found.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0130/p13s01-wmgn.html
It's relevant more to ppl our age cuz it talks about how the growing target for identity theft is ppl under the age of 18.
“Of the more than 255,000 identity theft complaints filed with the US Federal Trade Commission in 2005, 5 percent involved people under age 18 - up from 3 percent in 2003 “
Wow, the story javariyya heard on the news is unbelievable!!
While there are ways to avoid identity theft, not all situations can be prevented..just like brandon said. There are some crooked people out there who look for these kinds of things. Although I’m sure the story javariyya heard on the news was accidental, it’s scary to think that somebody else can cause such a disaster. Unfortunately I know too many people who have had to deal with identity theft.
like common people if you dont know the person that requests an add on facebook or myspace or any other site DONT ADD THEM! like its that simple.
i do agree with aleks too tho, some things are hard to avoid and your just stuck in a bad situation, but people need to start caring more about what they are doing with their money, and companies and people need to be more careful when they are dealing with others money (like javariyya mentioned)
my cousin was a victim of idnetity theft. she immediately reported it as soon as she found out who was doing it...but the police never did anything about her situation. my cousin KNEW this girl and lived in her neighborhood.it was sooo ridiculous, thios girl stole aprox. $2'000 from her credit cards, she went shopping, hit the gym, and bought a few other things at my cousins expense.
this girl was never arrested or saw any consequences from her actions. the credit cards were cancelled but nothing says this girl wont find another way to steal from her.
Why do you think people would steal others identities?
to better their life, add a little luxury to their lives. and people are lazy and dont want to work for their money, they are looking for handouts.
If you were a victim, how would you react?
i would be pissed. i work for the money i earn and if someone just steals it, wow.
After reading this blog, what are you going to do to make sure you are not a victim of this fraud?
i will be alot more careful with what i do with my money, with who i add on facebook.
I guess it really comes down to if your careful or not. Think before giving out ur personal information. My mom always warned me about this kind of stuff so i think im pretty careful. Sometimes its really easy to steal someone's identity but y would you? what do really gain if your "lisa tompson" on facebook? I think its pointless to act like someone your not.
Once someone used my freinds name and pictures to bash other people. The people that got bashed went up to my friend and asked why she was doing it. She simply didnt know what was goin on and then someone showed her the myspace page. She still doesnt kno who it is but the myspace it definatly gone.
The funny thing is I work at a place where I get to see more then 500 credit card numbers a day! Not only their credit card numbers, but all of their personal information. As an employee, I am not allowed to take a pen or any writing utensil at work just so that the owner knows i will not copy any information down. But, it’s not that hard to memorize someones information. I don't agree with davidparker said. He thinks its easy to avoid identity theft because someone can be using his information and you might not even know it. After reading harp’s blog, I went to one of the links she listed, and I found another link after that which I thought was really interesting. I think you all should take a look at it: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/identity-theft/
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