In this day and age, it’s not uncommon for a person to fall victim to identity theft. But there are some tools you can use to prevent becoming a victim.
Reverse e-mail lookup Web sites are quickly becoming a handy tool in the fight against identity theft. By using them, you can prevent the worst from happening by defending yourself against identity thieves.
It’s become easier for these thieves to find ways to connect to your personal information, thanks to social networking Web sites. When you enter your personal information onto these sites, the sites will often warn you to set your privacy levels high – and you should listen.
But identity thieves are crafty, and if they have your e-mail address, they can pretend to be you. If a thief sends you an e-mail seeking supposed friendship, what he’s really looking for is your e-mail address. Once he has it, he can use it to gain access to the rest of your personal information.
Once you’ve received such an e-mail, you should copy the e-mail address and perform a reverse lookup at one of the many Web sites that are online for this purpose. The search should tell you whether the person e-mailing you is really your friend or not – and whether you’re about to be scammed.
A thief can also use your e-mail for phishing and spamming. E-mail theft can convince others that any communication is from a legitimate source. This is especially true of business e-mail addresses. If a person believes a communication is from a legitimate business, he’s more likely to respond – that’s phishing.
Spammers who perpetrate e-mail identity theft can send e-mail to an individual or firm under the guise of someone legitimate and the e-mails sent are less likely to get blocked.
Using tools such as reverse lookup can find identity thieves – before they find you.
Other tips to combat e-mail crime include:
• Avoid being blocked by using a different domain registrar to that of the web hosting company.
• Think about a second hosting company just in case anything goes wrong and you are blocked; the second account can be your backup service.
• Don’t share an IP address; if someone you are sharing with gets blocked for spamming, then you don’t have to be.
Get wiser and smarter – it’s the best protection against identity theft there is.
