Ever received a request to log in to your online bank to confirm or change some details even though you weren’t a member of that bank? That’s someone attempting an online identity theft – Yours! The only reason they didn’t get your identity was because you dismissed the e-mail as an error as you didn’t bank with them. But what if you did? What if the email came and it looked identical to the ones you get from your bank?

This is how online identity theft occurs. The criminals, often organized crime syndicates, send out millions of emails knowing that if only 10% are received by customers of the bank they are pretending to be and only 1% of those click on the link and fill out the form, they’ve had a very good day at the office of online identity theft!

So you get an email from someone saying that they are a banking official or are acting on behalf of some political figure and want to squirrel money out of the country with your help, you should be aware that this is almost certainly a ploy to commit online identity theft but you’d be surprised how many people actually fall for this type of scam. The person emailing you usually says that they need your bank account information or your social security information in order to wire you the funds.

Once they get this information they have everything they need to steal your identity. The most famous of this type of online identity theft solicitation is the Nigerian banking scam, but it has many different forms that are very similar. Some will say they are soliciting for a charity or that they have a medical condition and need to take care of this type of business immediately. The common element is that they all ask for personal information about you, your bank account number, your social security number, or some other type of information that should be kept private and confidential.

Other types of emails that lead to online identity theft are what’s known as phishing, where you receive an email that looks as if it’s from a legitimate site such as eBay or PayPal. The email says that you are going to be charged for a recent purchase or that you need to update your personal information with them. They provide a link right there in the email that supposedly goes back to their site so you can correct this situation, but following that link usually results in online identity theft because it doesn’t actually go back to that site. As a matter of fact, the email isn’t really from them in the first place. But if you follow that link and enter your information they record all the numbers and other things you type so they can use it for online identity theft.

Don’t let this put you off using the internet for surfing and even shopping. It’s important to realize that shopping online is actually safer than using your plastic on the high street. This is because the human element is not present online. Everything is done automated so no person sees your details and gets tempted to make a copy. All you have to do is be careful online. Remember that if someone emails you and asks for personal details just delete and forget. If you are shopping online look for the little padlock that appears bottom of the screen. This means you are on a secure server and no person can see your card details, etc. when you fill in the online forms and hit send. Online identity theft is a serious risk but only for the unaware.

For much more info on online identity theft please click here.