Identity theft now more common
THE LAST decade has seen a change in the way we live, do business and communicate. Not so long ago, particularly on Sunday afternoons, the family paid a visit, often by bus, to other relatives or close friends. That practice was quickly replaced by the use of the telephone but today, thanks to technology, we rely on e-mail and the cell phone. Telemarketing was a technique known to us as a North American gimmick. This, along with phone orders and the use of credit cards, is the order of the day. Demographic changes and freedom of movement as called for under the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), as well as the necessity to carry some means of identification require everyone to travel with important personal documents. In addition, payment for goods and services by credit card is the beginning of the coming into being of a cashless society. We are all familiar with the view that progress has a price. That price, already familiar to first world countries, is identification theft and has started to raise its head in our country. It is important that we pay attention to this matter and familiarise ourselves with the techniques employed by information predators. They get information from businesses or other institutions by stealing records, in some cases while on the job. They even buy information from employees who have access to company and personnel records. Of course, breaking into computers is not new, nor is mail box theft, particularly bank statements and pension cheques, as well as searching garbage bins as they await collection by sanitation workers. Loss of purses and wallets as well as the cunning extraction of personal details on the phone by callers posing as legitimate companies, claiming to have some problem with your account or to be updating records. The latter technique is known as "phishing" online or pretexting by phone. At first glance, one may consider these efforts to be useless. However, by completion of a change of address form, sufficient time can be bought to enable the perpetrator to run up charges on your credit card or store accounts, without the matter coming to your attention or payments being made, thus ruining your credit rating. We must therefore be more vigilant about our handling and protection of personal information and disposal of documents. Even the Automatic Teller Machine is prone to fraud and theft by bystanders who may observe your PIN number. This is truly a new age.
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"Identity theft now more common"