Identity Theft – A Growing Business
I’m sure you’ll all be pleased to know that even during these times of the credit crunch there is still one industry enjoying a growth period, unfortunately, it’s Identity Theft … the easiest way for fraudsters to blight your life and stress you still further!
Combating the risk of identity fraud should be high on everyone’s agenda but some people are still unsure what it actually is. Without putting to fine a point on it, it is literally the theft of your identity both personal and financial. An alias using your identity and financial information could literally drain your accounts and put you into debt into the bargain.
Do you know how easy it is to get a copy of your own or somebody else’s birth certificate? TOO easy!!! Do you routinely shred your bank and credit card statements after processing them?
Applying a little common sense can go a long way with a little change in your thought processes. For example the next time you receive one of those annoying “you’ve been pre approved” credit card offers, before you throw it straight in the bin ask yourself why you are happy to give the chance to a complete stranger to obtain your (all but your signature) completed form. That’s surely asking for trouble.
If you bank online and don’t consider any of the above a risk then, you still need to consider your internet usage habits. We have all been educated to not use the same passwords and serial numbers for all our accounts and transaction, but living in the real world we all struggle to remember numerous password and user combinations and tend to use the same one leaving ourselves wide open.
Un-shredded paperwork and internet activity is not the only way an unscrupulous operator will get hold of your information though. With so much information being held on computer hard drives, pen drives and mobile phones sometimes these are areas of easy pickings for the Identity thief or even random opportunist.
Accessing data on a disposed of device or hard drive for example is for the experts far easier than you would imagine if the drive is in working order (and sometimes when its not). Beware not all data recovery companies have the same ethical standards or are actual data recovery labs at all and your old data can be raided in less than 5 minutes if you have not planned correctly and used a reputable business to recover your data for you .
Did you know you can have a hard drive which you no longer require either shredded or securely wiped so that your details are no longer recoverable?? The drive can be physically shredded into little pieces even the top data recovery companies or jigsaw enthusiasts could not reassemble your data then, like wise the drive can be secure wiped and just the motor and heads used for parts by hard drive recycling companies.
To find out more about secure data wiping and hard drive disposal call or speak to your local data recovery services company. For visit here for more great computer and Pc help help.
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