Protecting Yourself from Modern-Day Identity Theft

A winning Nigerian-lottery number. The perfect man or woman. A long-lost relative whose millions you've inherited.

No, it's not an episode of your favorite soap opera; it's the state of today's Internet. And the most important thing to remember is: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Each day inboxes all over the world are flooded with scammer's e-mails, and keeping an open and watchful eye out for popular scams can help stop more people from loosing money and experiencing heartache. Popular website scambusters.org reveals recent scams, as well as tips for protecting yourself against them. One of the most important words to watch for when dealing with someone you don't know, Audri Lanford, PhD, one of the cofounders and coeditors of scambusters.com wrote on the website, is social security number. Once a scammer has that number he or she can access more of your information, leading to identity theft, a crime local law enforcement officers have trouble solving due to the global nature of the internet, according to a Sheriff's department representative in Indiana.

The Federal Trade Commission identifies a crime as identity theft when a person uses another's personal information to commit Fraud or other crimes, estimating that about 9 million U.S. citizens have their identities stolen annually. Identity thieves can use the personal information they obtain to order services, like phone, cable, or electric, in the victim's name and then default on the bills, ruining the victim's credit. Identity thieves can also apply for loans and other financial services in the name of another. Illegal residents in the United States can actually purchase social security numbers from identity thieves, which the illegal residents then use to obtain work, work whose earnings will cost the identity theft victim money in taxes! Once the thieves have your social security number, they have an open door.

But the method of obtaining a person's social security number changes from scammer to scammer. Some use the internet, claiming to be from companies with which many people hold an account. Others use the telephone, even claiming to be from the IRS. Still others use websites like Facebook and Myspace, building personal relationships with victims, and then asking for seemingly innocuous information like a birth date or address. Even in possession of just this information scammers can steal a person's identity.

Internet schemes do not always center on obtaining personal information, however. Sometimes building personal relationships with people on social websites like Facebook, Myspace, or dating sites can lead to more than financial loss. According to scambusters.com, a scam exists where scammers will pretend to be interested in a victim for a romantic relationship. The scammer waits until the victim feels as if he or she knows the scammer, and then asks for a favor of money to deal with some emergency. Requests keep coming, and when the victim finally gets suspicious, or asks to meet the scammer, they suddenly find out that the person they believed to be their romantic partner never existed.

Some scammers prey on other emotions or personalities. Claiming to be representatives from overseas companies that need a financial associate in the United States, scammers sometimes e-mail victims who they suspect to be looking for a job, especially work at home positions. They offer victims a job cashing checks that they've supposedly collected from domestic investors, and depositing them into their own account, from which they are to write new checks back to the company. The checks are counterfeit, but the victim has already sent the money back to the alleged company before the bank notifies them of this fact.

The FBI also warns internet users against the Nigerian letter scheme, a similar scam. A person receives an e-mail from a person in Nigeria who wants to transfer funds into the United States. The scammer promises to give the victim a large reimbursement for their help in aiding the transfer. The scammer will ask the victim to send small amounts of money to cover taxes of other transfer fees, with the promise of returning the money tenfold. The victim sends the money, and cannot contact the scammer again.

This scam can also occur in the form of lotteries and inheritance winnings. Victims will receive an e-mail stating that they have won an international lottery, or that a lonely widow has left them thousands of dollars in her will, but he or she most send a small amount of money to cover the taxes out of a check the company sends to the victim. Once the victim deposits the checks and sends the money, the checks are found to be counterfeit, and the victim ends up owing money to the bank.

Once a people have become a victim of any type of internet scam, they can file a police report, and should contact the agencies through which they have accounts to look for, and warn personnel about, attempts the scammer might make to access the victim's personal information. According to the Federal Trade Commission, an important step to preventing identity theft is to check your credit report regularly. The Commission also advises that many people find out that their identity has been stolen by locating inaccuracies in their credit reports. If this occurs complaints can be filed with the Federal Trade Commission, police reports with local law enforcement agencies, and credit reporting services. Companies with which you have accounts should also be contacted. Scambusters.com also warns users of social websites to refrain from giving away personal information.