Friday, April 2, 2010

Identity Thieves/Fraudsters Find New Hunting Grounds

Identity thieves and fraudsters continue to find new ways to ply their trade. An article in today’s "Voice&Data" Magazine identifies three non-traditional domains where identity related crimes are proliferating:

E-Payments
New online and mobile payment methods, such as peer-to-peer (P2P) payments (already available as a Facebook application) are creating opportunities for identity thieves. According to the article, some of these payment modes do not ensure adequate identity verification when processing a transaction.

Mobile Payment
Many mobile devices can now be used as “electronic wallets” to facilitate financial transactions. Unfortunately, this technology provides additional opportunities for fraudsters to not only steal your identity, but your money as well.

Social Media
Social networking sites, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, contain personal information which can be “borrowed” by identity fraudsters to create fake accounts in your name.

The article goes on to recommend the use of multi-factor authentication, with biometrics, including voice, as one of the factors, to help prevent identity fraud.

For more information on identity theft, including steps you can take to safeguard your personal information, click
here.

No comments:

Post a Comment