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ID theft remains a crucial problem in today's electronic world and it seems to
be getting worse. For many people, the information age has been one of convenience
and wonder but a new study from a professor at the University of East Anglia in
Norfolk, UK suggests that ID theft is more frequent thanks to that wonder.
Do you have ideas on ID theft? Tell us about on them on WebProWorld.
So head to your favorite clothing store and you're buying new clothes for the
kids to start the school year. You've spent $400 but you've gotten some nice things
and you're checking out. You head to the counter, hand them you're credit card.
They swipe the card, hand it back to you, and provide you with the receipt to
sign. Everything seems as normal. The problem is you never signed your credit
card on the back and they didn't ask for identification to verify you are who
you say you are.
 Now,
imagine the trip to the grocery store after the your school clothes trip. You
spend another $250. You head to the check out and grab your check/debit card.
You draw a blank for a moment and forget your number so the clerk, being nice,
just swipes the card and you sign for it. They didn't check for a signature nor
did they ask for ID again.
Now, you debit card disappears. You could've sworn you left it in another purse
or pair of pants but it's a couple of days before you notice it's gone. Someone
else went to another clothing store and another grocery doing the same things
you did and no one asks them for ID either.
As technology gets easier, people become less involved with checking and following
up on these types of things and that's just what criminologist Dr. Emily Finch
of the University of East Anglia is talking about in her research.
Dr. Finch plans to speak to the BA Festival of Science in Dublin on Wednesday
to present her findings. She claims one ID technologies, "chip and pin" isn't
nearly so secure, saying it isn't really an improvement at all because criminals
adapt their tactics to get around them.
She told the BBC, "What fraudsters know about is human nature. They know about
people, they know how we operate, and they know how relationships of trust in
which information is disclosed develop."
She says this leads to all kinds of problems because then, these thieves get the
relevant financial information and use it to apply for credit cards, loans, etc.
using the stolen identification.
There are already tons of ID theft problems out there. Banks lose information
all the time. They lose it during shipping, they have employees sell the information
or sometimes the leave the information where they shouldn't and it is inadvertently
stolen.
The problem with this particular form of ID theft is that many times, this could
be prevented the first time the card is used. There are places where it's a problem
like at gas stations when you pay at the pump and ATM machines that don't always
require PINs. Most places though, when people use credit cards, if the clerks
would just check the ID, it would be a problem.
 Chip and pin is relatively new at this point but if there's financial incentive
to steal the appropriate information (and there is), then thieves will find a
way to make it work. It will help alleviate the problem in the short term but
it will recur. Dr. Finch suggest much of this could be avoided with more vigilance
on the part of all involved.
It is interesting though, a friend mentioned recently he went to a well known
bookseller. He recently paid for his purchase with a personal check (rare I know)
and the clerk requested an ID. He promptly pointed out that they've never asked
for an ID when he was using checks and they said they see the ID on the card.
But how often do the check it really?
The age of technology and information is awesome but at the same time a little
frightening. As more and more people become familiar with this form of technology
and as our country is moving toward its own national identification system via
the REAL-ID, it's absolutely imperative that this information be more secure and
better protected, even if it means the clerk at your favorite retailer takes an
extra 30 seconds to verify who you are.
Discuss this at WebProWorld.
About
the Author:
John Stith is a technology writer with SecurityProNews. |
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