Identity theft is a type of fraud in which someone else uses your personal identification details such as your name, credit/debit card no, pan card no., driving license no, or social security number. It is not something very new, but of course it is one of the fastest growing crimes of this century.
According to The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Identity theft topped the list of fraud complaints in 2011 in US. 70% of 1.8 million complaints filed were frauds related to Identity theft. But the actual incident could be more than 10 million.
According to Javelin Strategy, in 2011, identity theft increased by 13% with 11.6 million adults becoming victim of this. Moreover, increasing ubiquity of social media sites and smart phones has increased user risk. Consumers share a significant amount of personal information, which is required for identity authentication, over these websites. As far as mobiles are concerned, 32% save their login information on it, 62% don’t use a password on their screen, enabling others to access their information if the phone is lost.
According to Norton Cybercrime Report 2011 , globally 431 million adults experienced cybercrime in 2011 and more than 1 million plus adults became victims every day.
In India, recently there was a news regarding display of PAN card numbers on reservation charts. Passengers apprehended that these numbers could be misused by anyone “for benami transactions” after the implementation of Finance Act 2012.
In India, identity theft cases are rising with increasing adoption of the Internet. and smartphones. Identity theft is very easy in India and ignorance is the major cause. The question is “Can one completely prevent identity theft from occurring?” The answer is NO, especially if someone is determined to commit the crime. But one can minimize the risk of being ripped off by managing personal information with a greater awareness and with heightened sensitivity.
