According to the I.I.I (Insurance Information Institute), there are several simple preventive measures that can be taken up by shoppers this holiday season to protect themselves from becoming identity theft victims.
This is due to the fact that holiday season presents an ideal opportunity for fraudsters to steal from unsuspecting consumers due to several factors such as:
- Stores are crowded and thus consumers are less concerned about the security of their personal information which may appear on their driver’s licenses, credit cards and personal checks.
- Consumers are tired from doing all the heavy shopping that is characteristic of the holiday season.
Important identifying information that is stolen by thieves is used to commit identity fraud such as stealing from bank accounts, opening credit card accounts and even acquiring insurance policies.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, 1.2 million fraud and identity theft complaints were filed with state, local and federal law enforcement agencies and a number of private institutions. Based on a survey that was carried out by Javelin Strategy & Research titled 2009 Fraud Survey, it was found out that between 2007 & 2008 there had been a 22% increase of fraud identity cases. The total number of fraud victims within the same time was 9.9 million. One of the other things that was pointed out by the survey was the fact that based on historical data there are higher fraud figures when the economy is not doing too well.
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