The FTC recently released a survey which showed, that over 27 million Americans were victims of identity theft in recent years and that identity theft losses to businesses or financial institutions were in the billions. Consumers were also victims and had out-of-pocket expenses in the billions.
Recent criminal activity made news when critical personal data was accessed by infiltrating databases that held background information on U.S Citizens. We begin to understand how vulnerable computers, as well as the internet, have become and the need to protect from this type of intrusion.
Identity thieves usually go on a spending spree, using stolen personal information and often use such information to obtain documents or mislead document-issuing authorities.
It goes without saying that internet users are at risk of computer infiltration and having their personal information stolen and abused. The risks are beyond comprehension.
The remedy, of course, is to protect any computer linked to the internet. This preventive measure can be achieved by the installation of a spyware scanner and spyware removal software. Spyware software should be used at regular intervals, such as once a week to keep up with new threats of infiltration that crop up from time to time.
It must be remembered, that firewall and virus software do not protect from Spyware. Spyware generally finds its way into computers, when legitimate looking files are downloaded or when files are shared via the internet.
Installation of spyware software is a good first step to protect from identity theft and to eliminate personal hardship or losses. Shredding personal documents before disposal also helps prevent identity theft.
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