Impostors and the Art of Identity Theft

So is that really the Dalai Lama or Shaquille O’Neal tweeting about their day? Think again. According to Computer World, both the spiritual leader and the basketball legend were victims of impostors who had created accounts on Twitter in 2009 and were masquerading as the two. A slew of celebrities have dealt with the growing rise of online impersonators, but the problem of identity fraud and theft has now trickled down to the average Joe who happens to have a Facebook and Twitter account and pays his credit card bills online.

Last year MSNBC reported the story of a Microsoft employee whose Facebook account was hacked. The impostors then posted messages claiming that he was in London and had been robbed at gunpoint. They then requested that his friends send over money, some of whom did so without realizing it was a scam. Another story revolved around a radio host who discovered that his photos were plastered all over dating websites. The impostor was creating phony profiles online and soliciting women for money.

The anonymity of the web provides a sanctuary for impostors and hackers who can readily pose as other people, create fake websites for real or imaginary companies, or hack into your computer. The problem of impersonation on social-networking sites has reached such a level that some states have taken measures to outlaw this activity.

What the statistics say
Approximately 10 million people were subjected to identity theft in 2008 alone. The scams vary in scope, but the goal is ultimately the same: to defraud and steal pertinent information from someone for financial gain and other purposes.

As Credit.com explains, “Thieves use Social Security numbers, driver’s licenses, passports, account information, and other personal details in order to impersonate their victims. With this data, identity thieves apply for mortgages, buy cars, open new accounts, apply for jobs, join the military, commit crimes, access savings, etc.”

Arizona, Nevada and California rank the highest in identity theft incidents across the nation.

How to protect against ID theft
In addition to using basic common sense and ignoring suspicious emails that ask for your banking/credit card information, and limiting your shopping to secure online websites, there are services like LifeLock, TrustedID and Identity Guard that help prevent identity theft.

LifeLock, for example, helps monitor the use of your personal information to open new accounts (such as credit cards or checking), and also notifies you about possible instances of ID theft. In addition, LifeLock also scours websites to find out if your personal information has been sold illegally. Another bonus is that it will help you replace the contents of a lost or stolen wallet to prevent fraudulent activity.

Common identity theft scams
A number of websites, including TrueCredit.com and Credit.com, provide information about common practices used by ID thieves:

Impostors: This has escalated to high levels on sites such as Facebook and Twitter, where impersonators mask their real identities and either hack someone’s account or pose as someone else. Change your password frequently, and use common sense: Is that really Brad Pitt sending you a “friend” request? Probably not.

Email scams: Again, impostors can easily send you emails from what appear to be legitimate addresses with real names: President_Obama467599@yahoo.com is undoubtedly a fake address. There are also emails --this scam has happened frequently to Hotmail users--which request your personal information: Name, home address, email password, and so on. Simply report these to the website administrator.

Phishing: Remember that email from PayPal or your bank requesting that you log in and provide pertinent information? That’s a typical phishing scam, whereby emails are designed to look like "the real thing." The information you provide is then gathered by identity thieves. If you receive anything suspicious, simply check with your bank and financial institution to verify the content of the email.

Pharming: This occurs when a hacker redirects traffic from a legitimate website to a bogus version that looks like the real thing. Therefore, when you type in your information on a "pharmed" site, it’s transferred over to the hacker.

Gas station credit card slots: Smart Money Magazine reports that another tactic gaining popularity amongst identity thieves is intercepting your credit card information by "hijacking" the information transfer to your bank while you pump gas. One way to avoid this is to pay in cash whenever possible.

Mail theft:This is probably the oldest trick in the book, whereby thieves simply steal your mail, particularly any statements you have received from your credit card company or bank.

-- Tara Taghizadeh --