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Real data on identity theft |
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Thursday, 27 January 2005 |
The results of a federal report on identity theft were published. Only 12% of identity theft occured as a result of stealing data online and half of identity theft is committed by friends and family. Victims who used the Internet to discover the fraud faced a loss of only $551 versus $4543 for victims who detected the fraud when a paper statement arrived in the mail. Trash and lost wallets were the most popular source of information for identity thiefs.
This leads to what most internet users would probably consider a counter-intuitive result - using the internet to manage your finances decreases your total expected losses to identity theft (probability you are a victim multiplied by the expected losses). This comes from the security effects of auditing. Not only does logging into your bank online a few times a month help you track your finances it also allows you to notice when things go wrong.
So buy a shredder, keep as little sensitive information in your wallet as possible (and keep an eye on your bank balance if you lose it), and keep using the internet.
Of course, if you're looking for trouble you can always emulate Windows on linux and try to execute viruses.
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