Computer Crimes :: Identity Theft

Computer Crimes Computer Crimes are on the rise in the state of Oklahoma with three of the most common being identity theft, credit card fraud, and computer hacking. A confused caller was having troubles printing documents. He told the technician that the computer was saying that the computer ''could not find the printer.'' The user had even tried turning the computer screen to face the printer, but his computer still could not 'see' the printer. Identity Theft Instances of identity theft have increased as the willingness of lenders like issuers of credit cards to extend credit without physical human contact, the ability to transact sales and other business at a distance (online and via telephone), and the availability of personal information, and its volume held by third parties, has increased. Credit card scams are three most common identity theft case reported so protect sensitive information and when at the ATM cover your pin and if there is a line ask the person behind you to step back. When doing transactions on the internet verify that the site is secure and remember the name of the sites bank are what the name of the transaction will be called on the bank statement. If online banking is available from your bank check the account weekly, 70% of identity theft is detected by the victim and victims who do this through electronic monitoring suffer less than 1/8th that of the one who reply on paper. Identity theft is the number one computer crime in Oklahoma City. Their were over 6,000 complaints in the state of Oklahoma in 2005 and 484 in OKC alone, Edmond and Tulsa are not far behind with over 300 cases. Nationally Oklahoma is 28th in the country for identity theft case reported. A few techniques for obtaining identification that most identity thieves might include: Stealing mail, rummaging through rubbish (dumpster diving), stealing personal information in computer databases, and infiltration of organizations that store large amounts of personal information. Credit card fraud Do not give account information on a cell phone use a house phone if possible, and do not give your pin number over the phone if some one ask you for your pin(personal identification number) over the phone report that person immediately because they are jeopardizing your information and it could be a scam. Persons that commit credit card crime largely go unpunished and repeatedly victimize consumers and businesses.