For reasons I’ll reveal later, I’m posting this essay that I recently received. I’d like the ForumWarz Community to give feedback on it. Feel free to vote in the poll and also provide your personal opinion on this essay. Note: I did not write this essay, so please vote based on the merits of this essay from an anonymous user.

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Dangers of identity theft by Anonymous User.

Identity theft is a crime that has very broad effect. From a loss of money to loss of reputation it is a crime that leaves victim with a severe amount of pain. This crime can hurt your life and plans for life. There are many different methods that identity thieves can use to steal your identity. However there are methods to protect your identity from identity thieves. Once the identity thieves obtained your identity it is possible to prevent further damage even though some of the damage is done already

A method identity thieves use to steal your identity is by dumpster diving. Dumpster diving is a method of obtaining items (such as food or personal information) from a dumpster. Discarded dogreat timesents can contain personal information if it is not removed. A paper shredder can destroy personal information that is on the dogreat timesent you are discarding. If you can’t afford a paper shredder you could burn the dogreat timesent at a safe location (like a fire-proof bathtub) or you can shred the dogreat timesent with your bare hands. Sometimes a computer may end up in a dumpster. A computer hard drive may still contain personal information if it is not properly erased. Darik’s Boot and Nuke is a data obliviator program you should use on your computer before you dispose of it. Once the data has been erased there is no way to recover it from the garbage can.

Pick pocketing is one way they can use to steal your identity. Your wallet is one of the places personal information might be. Normally the wallet is in your pockets which means that it is a target for pickpockets. The method to protect your personal identification is similar to the method you would use to protect your pockets from pick pockets. One method is by keeping your personal information in a secret pocket. Another method is to avoid taking any personal information out of the pocket. If you do not need to use your Social Security number or any other piece of personal information don’t bring it with you and leave it in a safe. If you wallet got stolen you should consider using a credit monitoring service because it last longer than fraud alert (3 months).

Burglary is another way an identity thief can steal your identity. The are similarities between burglary and pick pocketing except that burglary is theft that happens at your home while pick pocketing is theft that happens at your pockets. Buying a safe and putting your personal information into that safe is a method of protecting yourself from this method of identity theft is .

Spyware can obtain your personal information if you store your personal information on your computer and the spyware is installed on to your computer. One method to protect your computer from spyware is by installing a firewall. Firewalls prevent certain things (such as spyware) from entering your computer through a network. Antivirus is another tool against identity thieves that uses virus and spyware. While firewalls prevent your computer from accepting connections antivirus removes viruses and/or spyware if the malicious program got around the firewall. One of the best method of preventing the theft of your identity from your computer is avoid putting identifying information on your computer. If your personal information is not on your computer then identity thieves can’t steal what is not there.

Some parts of the Internet is a source of personal information such as email and social networking sites. Posting personal information online is one of the asinine action a person can do. Posting personal information online (such as Facebook) is just like putting a bulls-eye for identity thieves to steal your personal information. One way to prevent this situation is don’t post any personal information at all. URL shortening services could be a source of malware therefore it is not a good idea to click on those types of links.

There are many ways of reporting identity theft. One way to check if you are a victim of identity theft is by getting a credit report. If you see any fraudulent abuse of your credit (such a debts you never incurred) it is a sign of identity theft. If you debit card is stolen, check if there is any withdrawal you did not made. If there are debts you never incurred and/or withdrawal you did not made contact your bank and/or credit card companies immediately. If money was stolen from your checking or debit card account it would be a good idea to move the money to another account. The next step is to contact the police since identity theft is a crime. Make sure you have the credit report number and a hard copy sent to the police when you report this. Contacting a credit-reporting agency and placing a fraud alert would be a good idea at this point. Identity theft would create legal problem with you so you should contact a lawyer. The faster you react to this type situation the better.

The effect of identity theft is very caustic toward the victim. If it is not or detected there are many painful consequence. Identity theft not only affect the victim’s finances but also the victim’s emotion health. After the victim discovering that he or she is a victim of identity theft the victim would feel that his or her privacy is breached and that would leave an emotional scar and possibly affect the victim’s ability to trust in a negative way.

Identify theft is a type of fraud. Fraud is the use of dishonesty for criminal gain. Identity thieves lie about being the victim towards unlawful profits that hurts the victim. Identity thieves deprive the victim of their identity to deprive the victim of their property toward their gain. The identity thief would profit on on the theft of the victim property and money via the stolen identity and the victim paying the price for the identity thief’s unlawful gain.

In conclusion, I have learned many intriguing aspects about identity and how it should be protected.