Identity Theft in the Age of Social Media

We’ve increasingly heard the term “identity theft” and heard about how to protect ourselves from being a victim. Things like shredding junk mail and documents containing sensitive information, not giving out credit card information or social security numbers and securing your mail in a post office box. But social media is safe, right? Think again.

“Social media, in its present form, has been around a relatively short term and even though you probably can’t imagine living without it now, except for the last few decades, everyone did.”

How Safe Are Personal Hotspots?

Wi-Fi has become a household word in the past 2 decades. Free WiFi is also an amenity offered by stores, restaurants, and hotels all over the United States. But how safe is free WiFi?

There are several ways in which WiFi poses the threat of Internet crimes. “Since the Internet is a relatively new phenomenon, the laws governing Internet usage may vary widely according to region or state. However, the following types of Internet activity can be classified under the broad umbrella term of “Internet theft”: 

Is it Safe To Give Out My Credit Card's Security Code?

With identity theft being the number one consumer complaint for several years running, it begs the question of whether anyone is safe regardless if we give out our credit card’s security code.

“MasterCard started issuing in 1997 and Visa in the United States issued them by 2001. American Express started to use the CSC in 1999 in response to growing internet transactions.”

If I Take My Documents to be Shredded, How Do I Know They Are Actually Destroyed?

Certified document destruction companies have standards and procedures in place that must be followed in order to be certified by the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID).

One of those policies is to provide each customer with a certificate of destruction to all customers who have sensitive information destroyed.