In 2015 Javelin Strategy, research and advisory company, released results of their study conducted in October the same year. Their reports show that 85% of all identity thefts happen online and mostly on the social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Since the platforms give abundance of fresh identities, it is no wonder they have devised a plan to use the resources given to them. As if that is not sufficient, 65% of users give their personal information freely and in detail. The question is among all those users who are they targeting, and putting at risk?
Actions of the potential target
Identity theft has been a game of chess, a certain move costs a certain price. Seems like the only one walking out of the match with financial gain is the attacker. Majority of the victims don’t even notice the chess pieces moving, the damage gets noticed only when the attacker draws a final blow. Usually this move is a victim’s bank account emptied, or in worse scenario, victim has a criminal record attached to the name.
However the thief decides to use victim’s identity, seems he uses the target as a chess piece to his advantage. Some of the possibilities getting targeted as a victim is social media platforms data sharing, a person who just had a major event in life like buying a house, or just have good credit score. The most noteworthy, are the online shoppers, spending money they rarely notice someone just swiped their card for over 1,500$. They will cancel the card, thinking the retail tricked them, but will never report the crime. Most of all, they might never know they are the victim of identity theft. International consumer protection (Econsumer) finds that in the period from April to June 2017 only 2,490 people reported identity theft. Just for comparison in US, every hour 74 traditional robbery happen, and in the same amount of time 2,000 identity thefts.
Most likely person to be at risk
Since the expansion of the cybercrime, people have been asking themselves the same questions: ‘Who is at risk?’ and ‘Who is a target for identity thieves?’
The answers are complex and depending on the ultimate goal of the criminal. In some cases they are after scamming people for money, others stealing people’s identifiable data, and some even using people for ulterior motives.
Therefore, Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) have done a research to find that there is a difference in number of identity theft victims reported by state. The ones with higher risks respectively are located in: Missouri, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, Illinois, Michigan, Georgia, Texas, New Hampshire, and California.
Not only does the location play a role in selecting a target, but it seems that certain age groups are more likely to be at risk than others. The groups are divided from age 6 to 10, 23 to 29, and lastly senior citizens. For different reasons common reported targets of identity theft are:
- Foster children
- Caregivers or the holders of family care rights
- Social media users
- Small business owner, or CEO of the large company
- Young adults and college students
- Military personnel
- Seniors
Foster children-Mostly because they get moved from foster home to another, no one notices that the child’s medical care has been misused due to identity theft.
Caregivers or the holders of family care rights-Usually people who have too much on their mind, therefore not paying attention in taking care of child’s social security number and medical care.
Social media users-Mostly people who share their information in detail or just feel free to let friends comment on their lives. What they are not aware of is the possibility of pieces of data being put together by someone who intends to steal something.
Small business owner or the CEO of the large company-Really makes no difference, because the owners and CEO’s computer is just a tool and entrance to the company. By using their credentials they can access the list of every employee in the company and their personal data.
Young adults or college students-Most likely at this age birds are leaving the nest. The same way young adults are leaving home to campus or renting their own apartment. The trouble is they lack experience not to trust everyone, including the real estate agency. That way they leave too much information in the hands of schemers. Young adults who finished college and have found a job that is payed over 50,000$ are more likely to be a target. Preferred profile of cyber criminals are victims who have a college degree or higher.
Military personnel-Every member has a vast medical care, if need be. What happens is that thieves still their benefits putting the soldier’s life in danger.
Seniors-The only group of people who are misused in so many ways for medical identity theft, for phishing, and scam.
Each of the groups has a special something that makes them tempting for the criminals. However, all the attacks would be in vane if only users would guard their privacy a little more. If you asked average user, I am sure none of them would willingly be a victim of identity theft. But humans are strange beings they act only when attacked, and never taking precautions to stop the crime before it ever happens.