Facts Identity theft (spoofing)
Identity intrusion, spoofing, or id-hijacking is when someone uses your name, social security number, or home address to, for example, order products online.
This is a type of fraud. The person committing fraud then goes to a delivery point near your home, shows an ID—which can be false—and collects the product.
ID-hijacking can also be when your personal information is used to get a bank card or credit card, take a loan, use gambling services, or buy products on credit in stores.
Your card information can also be used to pay for products that are bought via the internet and delivered directly to the fraud. The card information can be spread via the physical card, but most often, this happens by the fraud finding your card information through a data breach.
Advice Gather digital evidence
Document and save everything that can be used to investigate what has happened.
Advice File a police report!
File a police report, even if it does not lead to a charge, it’s important to report so that statistics can show that the internet is for real.
Advice Clean out your computer
If sensitive information has spread via a program on your computer, clean out your computer right away. You can do this with an ad-aware program.
Advice Your financial information has leaked
If you suspect your information has leaked: block the card in question, check your bank statements, collect digital evidence, and contact the card issuer.
Advice Use and update anti-virus software and firewall
Your operating system and your browser (safari, chrome, firefox, internet explorer, etc.) also need to be regularly updated to have the latest security updates.
Advice Surf safely
Use a secure connection to the web server. You can do this by checking the URL. If it starts with https, it is often safe, but not guaranteed. You can also look for a locked padlock at the bottom of the screen. If you feel even slightly unsure, never give out sensitive information.
Advice Unknown emails/links
Never click unknown links in an email without first checking out the sender!
Advice Do not expose your personal or credit information
Use credit reporting services that text message or send physical letters when a credit report is made on your social security number.
Advice Check your paper mail
Make sure it is not possible to access your paper mail. Also, be sure to destroy important papers before you throw them in the trash or recycling.
Advice Check out the apps you download
Check if they have existed for a long time or gotten positive reviews.
Spoofing can mean many things
Spoofing can be slang for identity theft on the internet, but also partially ironic or sarcastic content for example on a fake account in a celebrity’s name and partially fraud.
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