Making Money vs.. Identity Theft

Should money be so hard to earn and should it be so risky?

It can be very complicated in this economy making money. So some people look to the computer or the Internet for a source of income. It can be just as hard to find work on the computer as it is working for a company such as McDonald’s or Wal-Mart. 

Unemployment was at 13.7 million in April of 2009 (www.wikianswers.com). So money is needed and people are becoming desperate and searching in some unsafe places and taking unsafe measures to get there. Making money has become hard and risky. 

Image by Don Hankins via Flickr

There are sites that suggest “big bucks”or that you will earn thousands in a short time. 

Most of these are indeed a scam. They ask for you to sign up and enter your credit card number here, name, address, birth date, etc. These are usually a sign of tragic identity theft in process. Although this is not always the circumstance.

Identity theft is as big of a deal as needing work in this suffering economy. In 2007 there was about 8.4 million Americans who suffered from Identity theft (www.privacyrights.org). There are tons of Identity protection software systems available out there. Yet most people think that ” Oh it wont happen to me” so they choose not to protect themselves and their true identity.

There are a few simple steps you may want to follow while using the Internet to avoid identity theft from happening to you.

•  First is keep your anti-spyware updated 
• Second is keep personal information such as full name, age, birth date, and bank account information off the Internet unless you are using a familiar site and the privacy terms do not allow other scam sites to reach your information.
• Third is keep your passwords updated and safe, you may do this by changing your passwords once a month or at your convince , and to be careful not to use personal numbers such as social security or phone numbers.
• Fourth is use more popular shopping sites such as e-bay or amazon.
• Fifth is stay away from pop-ups they usually are scams that ask for personal information.

Be sure to remember that your identity is supposed to stay your own. Also that crimes committed with your identity can be and usually result in fines and jail time for those who had it stolen from them in the first place.