Agape Blog

Not astonishingly, we found that most of the services we tested minimally did not provide us with the information that they claimed they would.

The majority of the services gave us little more than the name itself. often with an address that was obsolete or inaccurate. With claims of being able to provide us with full employment history, criminal records, credit history, and much more, we were sad to see that in most cases after all was said and done, we could have found the alike information in the local phone book!

Although most of the services we reviewed fell short of our expectations, we recommend you to choose a service that truly stood out from the crowd which would provide you nearly all the information you are looking for… including extensive contact info (email addresses, phone numbers, and both work and home addresses), criminal records, credit history, residential history, and extensive employment history. And basic information for:

When should you report the Cyber Crime?
• Spyware
• Phishing
• Spam
• Identity Theft
• Online Shopping Fraud

Spyware: Spyware can steal your credit card numbers and passwords. Switch your home page, or re-direct your web searches to unwanted sites. Display annoying ads, slow your PC to a crawl, or even control it remotely. If you think your computer has spyware, report cyber crime.

Phishing: Phishing is an e-mail fraud method in which the perpetrator sends out legitimate-looking email in an attempt to gather personal and financial information from recipients. Typically, the messages appear to come from well known and trustworthy Web sites. Store e-mail spam that phish for information about your company, bank, or organization. Lodge your cyber crime & forward the respective email information.

Spam: Spam is unwanted, invasive Internet advertising, typically for get-rich-quick schemes, or probable scams. Spam consumes your resources. Networks of virus-infected computers, Botnets (number of Internet computers that, although their owners are unaware of it, have been set up to forward transmissions including spam or viruses to other computers on the Internet) are used to send about 80% of spam. E-mail addresses are collected from chartrooms, websites, newsgroups, and viruses which harvest users’ address books, and are sold to other spammers. Much of spam is sent to invalid e-mail addresses. Report your complain & forward the respective message.

Identity Theft: It is a term used to refer to fraud that involves someone pretending to be someone else in order to steal money or get other benefits. The term is relatively new and is actually a misnomer, since it is not inherently possible to steal an identity, only to use it. The person whose identity is used can suffer various consequences when he or she is held responsible for the perpetrator’s actions. If your information has been misused, file a report about your identity theft.

Online Shopping Fraud: If you have problems during a transaction, try to work them out directly with the seller, buyer or the website operator. If that does fails, file your complaint.

Jayesh Bellani
Executive: Fraud Management System
Agape Inc

You secure everything in your life. You save money for your child’s education; you save money to buy a nice home for your family, and you also save money for emergency situations. This is why you work hard in order to get a good job with a sufficient salary to live a comfortable life.

However, there are people out there who would do just about anything to get what they want and that includes stealing. Many people have become victims of a very serious crime called identity theft, which often resulted in losing a lot of money and getting sued by several people because of fraud they didn’t even commit. If you think you are taking all the necessary steps in order to protect yourself from being victimized by this very serious crime, you should think again. Today, a lot of people use the internet for cheap communication, for researching and also for buying goods and services. It is a very efficient tool where you can really benefit from.

If you use the internet to purchase things, then you are vulnerable in becoming a victim of identity theft. Since the internet today is used for a lot of transactions, there are people who are also using the internet to steal from other people. They develop different kinds of programs that can enter your computer without you knowing about it, or they can also send you phishing emails for scamming you into providing your personal and financial information. So, you now ask how you will be able to protect yourself from getting victimized by the number of malicious software’s circulating in the internet today, and how to prevent it from entering your computer. First of all, the best way to protect yourself from being a victim is to simply stop using the internet or be careful on answering emails or on visiting websites.

However, this can prove to be too inconvenient. The internet is considered to be one of the most important tools in life today. You will need the internet for surfing, for work, for entertainment, etc. So, the next best thing to consider is by installing internet security software in your computer to protect you from people circulating the internet and malicious software such as computer viruses, spyware, adware, and hackers.

Sherwin Azavedo
Manager: Cyber Crime Complaint

Identity theft - also know as identity fraud, ID theft and ID fraud - is fraud perpetrated by a criminal who assumes someone else’s identity in order to profit illegally.

There are different types of identity theft - but in simple terms, someone pretends to be you in order to sign up for goods and services in your name - or they may simply use your details to access your already existing bank and/or credit card accounts.

You will probably be completely unaware of this until you receive a bill for something you haven’t ordered or your credit card statement arrives with a number of high value purchases of which you have no previous knowledge.

While 80% of Americans who use the internet, make financial transactions online, which give hackers a lot of opportunity to exploit there skill, there is still widespread concern with becoming a victim of on line fraud and Identity theft.

Surveys within the last twelve months, 9.3 million Americans were victims of identity theft.

How does identity theft occur?

Identity thieves can steal your personal information directly of in directly. Most thieves still obtain personal information through traditional rather than electronic channels. In the cases where the method was known, 68.2% of information was obtained off-line versus only 11.6% obtained online.

a. Stealing your personal belongings like wallet and purses, containing identification cards, bank information or credit cards.

b. Hacking into email accounts, or into social networking sites wherein your personal information can be accessed easily.

c. Complete “change of address” forms to divert mail to other locations.

d. Through bank and credit card statements, pre-approved credit cards, telephone calling cards and tax information.

e. The Scamsters can also obtain your credit report by posing as a landlord, employer who someone else who might have a legitimate need for, including a legal right to personal information.

f. The information can be obtained from your business or personnel records from your place of employment.

g. Even when you are connected to the Internet through broadband service, you are more vulnerable to “hackers” who may try to obtain financial and other personal identity information that is stored in your computer.

What identity thieves can do with this information?

Once identity thieves have your personal information, they use it in a variety of ways.

a. They may call your credit card issuer to change the billing address on your credit card account. The imposter then runs up charges on your account. Because your bills are being sent to a different address, it may be some time before you realize there’s a problem.

b. They may open new credit card accounts in your name. When they use the credit cards and don’t pay the bills, the delinquent accounts are reported on your credit report.

c. They may establish phone or wireless service in your name.

d. They may open a bank account in your name and write bad checks on that account.

e. They may counterfeit checks or credit or debit cards, or authorize electronic transfers in your name, and drain your bank account.

f. They may file for bankruptcy under your name to avoid paying debts they’ve incurred under your name, or to avoid eviction.

g. They may buy a car by taking out an auto loan in your name.

h. They may get identification such as a driver’s license issued with their picture, in your name.

i. They may get a job or file fraudulent tax returns in your name.

j. They may give your name to the police during an arrest. If they don’t show up for their court date, a warrant for arrest is issued in your name.

How do you prevent identification theft?

The best way of dealing with Identity theft is to prevent it from happening in the first place. Protect yourself by protecting your identity document, drivers licence and personal information.

The following tips may help you keep your peace of mind.

a. Always keep your ID (identity book), passport and drivers licence safely.

b. Before you disclose any personal information find out how it will be used. Find out if the information will be kept confidential.

c. When you are requested to fill in personal details on documents, ensure that the company you are dealing with is legitimate. Verify if the representative posing on behalf of the company does indeed work at the company in question.

d. Keep a record of your accounts and follow up if they do not arrive on time.

e. Guard your mail from theft. Remove post from your letter box after it has been delivered. If you are going to be away from home, ask a neighbour to collect your post for you.

f. If you move to a new place of residence, change your address on your accounts without delay.

g. Do not use predictable passwords such as your date of birth or telephone number on your accounts.

h. Carry only the amount of information that you will actually need in your handbag.

i. Do not give out personal information on the phone, through the post or over the Internet unless you have initiated the contact or know whom you are dealing with.

j. >Keep items with personal information in a safe place. Tear or shred documents such as credit applications, bank statements and receipts.

k. If you have service work done at your home or employ outside help, do not leave personal information lying around.

l. If you live with housemates ensure that your personal information is kept safely.

m. Give your ID only when absolutely necessary. Ask to use other types of identification when possible.

n. Request a copy of your credit report from each of the major credit reporting agencies every year. Make sure it is accurate and includes only those transactions you have authorized.

Identity theft is a rising phenomenon as people are trying to misuse the democratic nature of the internet. This term is used to refer to fraud that involves stealing money or getting other benefits (like personal or confidential information) by pretending to be someone else. Identity theft can be of the following types:

1. Financial identity theft
2. Criminal identity theft
3. Identity cloning
4. Business/commercial identity theft

There are a number of ways in which criminals can steal your identity, the one most commonly known is the raiding of bins, where personal information is stolen from your rubbish. Other forms are online, postal, theft of mail or telephone scams.

Identity theft when taken further gives rise to Identity Fraud, which is a situation when this information is used by criminals and fraudsters. Many victims of identity fraud do not realise they have had their identities stolen until it is too late. They start to suspect if card statements or bills either arrive late or do not turn up, unusual transactions on bills and bank statements, being contacted by companies about new accounts or services you are not aware of and being refused credit unexpectedly.

To create more awareness on these two threatning phenomenons the West Yorkshire Police has started the National Identity Fraud Protection Week from today. The program will raise awareness of identity theft and how it can be prevented. “Your identity is personal to you; don’t allow anyone to steal it”, is the punch line they are focusing on.