Identity Theft

962 Words2 Pages

The internet has become a part of every day life, in fact for many it is their life. You can meet other people, play games, do research, communicate with loved ones half way across the country, and now you can even shop and bank online. You can buy anything from baby food to prescription drugs on the internet and it will be delivered in a timely fashion to your front door. No line, no commute time, no annoying shoppers and no incompetent sales persons. Banking online is a recently developed convenience. How often do you forget to pay your bills? With online banking your bills are paid on time. You also have immediate access to your bank statements updated by the minute. It sounds almost too good to be true and it is, sort of. Just like in every aspect of every day life someone is out there trying to make a quick buck. With the new technology that allows us these conveniences there are also a new batch of thieves, aptly known as PHISHERS. Project Description Everyday people are logged onto the internet where they are putting themselves at risk by not taking the simple necessary precautions for protection. Just as you wouldn’t leave your wallet unattended in a store, you should not just assume your personal information is safe on the internet. This is not to say that if you log online your identity will be stolen; however, there are some necessary things to learn to protect yourself. The purpose of my project is to help make people aware of these dangers on the internet and how to protect themselves to the best of their abilities. I chose to focus on “phishing” a new kind of internet theft where millions of e-mails are sent out to vulnerable consumers. This is a serious danger, one... ... middle of paper ... ...h money they have. The phishers work in volume. If they get 5,000 from you and 99 other people that is a total of 500,000 dollars. Another key thing to do is report anything that looks ‘fishy’. I am amazed at how much internet ‘phishing’ is deterring people from using the internet and how serious a problem it actually is. I know that the banks are working extremely hard to prevent further attacks, but the phishers are working equally as hard to come up with new ways to steal our information. I definitely believe that if the consumer educates him/herself they will reduce their risks of having their identity or money stolen. I am going to continue banking online, but I am definitely going to be more adamant about checking my account statements, carefully authenticating who my e-mails are from and checking to see improvements made to protective software.

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