[BAK2u] Online Identity Theft
The tools of the trade
As explained in Part I of this book, there are three main methods thieves
use to obtain personal information via the Internet and/or individual
computers:
• Malicious software (malware) is surreptitiously installed into a computer
or device − fixed or mobile − to collect the user’s personal information
over time.
• Computers or mobile devices are hacked into, or otherwise exploited, to
obtain the user’s personal data.
• “Phishing,” whereby thieves use deceptive e-mails to get users to
divulge personal information, includes luring them to fake bank and
credit-cards websites. These phishing messages, commonly distributed
by e-mail spam, are also used to install malware on the computers of
unsuspecting recipients.
Phishing techniques are becoming more sophisticated and harder to
detect. Some aptly named principal forms are:
• “Pharming”: using deceptive e-mail messages to redirect users from an
authentic website to a fraudulent one, which replicates the original in
appearance.
• “SMiShing”: sending text messages (“SMS”) to cell phone users that
trick them into going to a website operated by the thieves. Messages
typically say that unless users go to the website and cancel, they will be
charged for services they never actually ordered.
• “Spear-phishing”: impersonating a company employee/employer via e-
mail in order to steal colleagues’ passwords/usernames and gain access
the company’s computer system.
ID thieves misuse victims’ personal information for a plethora of
unlawful schemes. Typically, these involve: misuse of existing accounts;
opening new accounts; fraudulently obtaining government benefits, services,
or documents; health care fraud; and the unauthorised brokering of personal
data…more details
Source:
http://www.amazon.com
