Four Ways Criminals Use To Swipe Your Personal Identity By Telephone

Identity thieves have gotten quite sophisticated over the years. According to IBM's X-Force Trend and Risk Report bogus e-mails sending you to a bogus website also known as phishing is growing. It does not stop there unfortunately. There have been a rise in net server breaches. Not surprisingly the same is true for cellular phones given that a lot of people have given up the home phone line and are now using their cell exclusively. Regardless of what kind of phone people use identity theft criminals have a scam ready and waiting. They do not always have to hack into it either. Speaking with you specifically often times yields the best results given that it works on a number of emotions not to mention the urgency of the circumstances. A few of these are 1. You Currently Owe The IRS Very few things will rattle you like getting a call from the Internal Revenue Service. The fraudster states that something was wrong with your tax information from this year or previous ones. If you want to avoid an audit, a serious financial fine or even going to jail it is imperative that you cooperate with this fake representative. They are making a calculated gamble that after saying all of this you will be to scared to do anything else. So you proceed to provide the maximum amount of private information as is possible. 2. Jury Duty A bench warrant has been issued for your arrest. You had jury duty on such and such a day yet failed to show up. Protesting that you never got a summons of any kind does no good. Law enforcement officials are on their way to your house right now. Then they ask you to verify some information. Afterwards they state that they will verify everything is correct and then get back to you. 3. The Process Server This can be in the form of a subpoena or an alleged debt. Just like the IRS and jury duty scam, the identity thief is very demanding. This notice needs to be sent to you immediately so they want to verify the street address as well as ensure you will be there in the next hour or so. To your temporary comfort the street address doesn't match so they decide to check the social security number. 4. Congrats You Won The Jackpot It's a well used routine but it can certainly still get the job done. Particularly on seniors one of the segments most victimized by identity thieves. You've won a sweepstakes of some kind. The award can be sent to you immediately but first the "agent" will need you to provide answers to the following questions.