Identity Theft

Identity theft happens when someone can access personal information about you, for example your password, or date of birth. In the past this was done mainly by raking through dustbins for old documents with the details on. It can now be done far more cleanly online. When we are online we exist in a virtual way, we are represented by streams of data. The question is who is at the end of that stream of data? You or someone pretending to be you? Very often identity theft is done by computer programs that pull together little bits of information about you to build up the whole picture. You would never give someone all the data but its recombined from numerous sources. Once your identity is stolen criminals can use it to apply for bogus credit cards in your name (but the bill goes to you of course), or masquerade as you online.