Write@Home
Winter 2015

Technology

Computer Hacker Cyber Crime Illustration, Hacker using Laptop, City Background, Binary Code, Hacking

These days, identity theft exists in different forms and many people fell victim to it. You should be careful if the text sender or website requires some private information from you; for example, bank information, social insurance number, and password. This is the warning sign of an Internet scam.

There are some things can you do to protect yourself from such danger.

Firstly carefully look at the address bar and URL. Double-check the domain name and look up the domain age. Check the contact page to compare information you receive online or in the text massage. Review the company's social media presence, such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Verify the website privacy policy. Validate the site with the Google safe browser transparency report.

Always run a virus scan. Usually these website may have some harmful links.

Walk away if it's too good to be true. Sometimes they will send you a big refund.

Watch for poor grammar and spelling. Some fraudsters are not good at English.

You can also do your own research by asking people you know.

If you become a victim of identity theft, you should call the police and alert your financial institutions as soon as possible. It can help you get your loss back and protect your credit report. You may need to review your credit reports for free using Equifax and TransUnion. Also report the fraud to authorities. Contact the Fraud Reporting System (Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre) or call toll-free at 1-888-495-8501.Web site services exist to protect consumers from identity theft are LifeLock ,IdentityForce, Identity Guard, Complete ID and ID watchdog.