Identity Theft Through Email

As I've discussed in earlier posts, there are many ways you can become an identity theft victim. By now we know that your identity can be stolen if someone is able to access your credit card numbers, bank account numbers, and Social Security number. It may be simpler than that. What if someone else gains access to your personal email?

This can be more dangerous than it sounds. We send and receive sensitive information in our email more and more often. What is at risk here? When you sign up for an online vendor, don't you often receive an email confirming your user name and password? If you have a Paypal account, you log into it with your email address. What's to stop an identity thief from clicking on, "forgot password" and entering your email address. You might also be reminded that your Paypal account can only be confirmed with your bank account. What about Amazon? Once you order, they keep your credit card number on file. Your thief won't even need the credit card number to start spending. He'd just need to re-route the order as a gift delivery to have it sent elsewhere. I could go on, but you probably get the point by now. And if you're not convinced, check out this woman's experience after leaving her Hotmail account open on a public computer.

So what's to be done? That actually depends. Do you use free web-based email accounts? Do you use them for signing up for membership on the web and making online purchases? If so, you may not want to access them from a public computer. Sure, it's convenient, but at what cost? You may also consider changing your password often, and being careful to log out every time you use it. What about your personal email on your home computer? Do you have it set to automatically open when you start up your computer? That's something else you may want to consider. Anyone who enters your home (with or without permission) and sits down in front of your computer can view your email without even the benefit of a password.

Keeping your identity secure is not always convenient, but it pays off in the long run.