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Common Types of Identity Theft

Stay informed about the common methods used to steal your personal information.

Fraud Prevention Center

 

Protect Your Identity

There are many ways that scammers can attempt to steal your identity. The more you know about them, the easier they are to spot.

Phishing

  • The scammer sends an email claiming to be from a legitimate company, in hopes of luring consumers to a "spoofed" website
  • The spoofed website is almost an exact copy of the legitimate website, created for the sole purpose of stealing personal or financial information
  • Consumers are typically asked to update sensitive personal information, such as names, account and credit card numbers, passwords, Social Security numbers, etc.

Pharming

  • Thieves create false websites to entice customers to enter their personal data
  • To avoid pharming, make sure you always check the “http address”
  • On a legitimate website, when you get to the page where you're asked to enter personal information, the “http” should change to “https” (the "s" stands for “secure”)

Fraud Prevention 

Vishing

  • Vishing mimics phishing but instead of an email you may receive a phone call from an automated dialer telling you your credit card has been used illegally
  • You're then asked to dial a fake 800 number to confirm your account details and credit card number

 

Keystroke Catchers

  • A keystroke catcher can record all the information typed on a keyboard
  • This type of theft is more common with computers that are available to the public
  • Check for suspicious devices connected to the keyboard and try not to enter sensitive data on shared computers

 

Card Skimming

  • Thieves capture your credit data from the magnetic strip of a credit or ATM card
  • This type of credit card fraud is becoming increasingly common internationally as travelers use their credit cards around the world
  • Check for suspicious attachments on card readers
  • Try to use only one credit card when you are traveling so that you can easily identify and report fraudulent charges if they occur

 

Database Theft

  • Criminals may purchase stolen databases of personal information
  • While there is no one way to protect yourself from database theft, it’s important that you monitor account activity, change passwords frequently, and use methods such as two-factor authentication to help keep your information secure