In today’s economy, many shoppers are going online to make their purchases. Some consumers claim this is because of discounts and online clearance, but the general consensus is that online shopping is becoming more popular due to its ease of access.
Though shopping online seems like a good alternative, it can also be a gateway for dangerous fraud attempts and identity theft.
Students and parents getting ready for a new school year to begin are particularly vulnerable because hackers are aware of the high volume of online activity that occurs during August and November.
An online fraud prevention provider called ThreatMetrix aims to counter fraudulent activity by providing businesses with solutions to safeguard both their customers and their merchandise. As mentioned in a press release sent out by ThreatMetrix , the months involving back-to-school sales are host to billions of opportunities for fraud to occur.
“The back-to-school timeframe represents one of the largest shopping surges in the U.S . This year, consumers are expected to spend more than $68 billion on books, apparel, paper, pencils, backpacks and other school supplies, according to the National Retail Federation,” Dan Rampe said in the online article ” ThreatMetrix Alert — Five Channels of Online Fraud to Beware of Just in Time for Back-to-School .” “Of that, an increasing amount is likely to be spent with online retailers.”
Several ideas are being promoted by ThreatMetrix to keep consumers from being victimized. One solution is called BillMyParents . This program is said to be a link that will be placed next to products on websites, so that adolescents or teenagers can simply mark the item they want and automatically send an email to their parent.
In the email, the parent can review the product and make sure that the site is trusted before approving the purchase.
Projects like BillMyParents are specifically aimed to prevent identity theft. In the U.S ., 28 people have their identity stolen every minute, and the trend is worsening.
eBillme is another website to educate the public about the dangerous of identity theft, and it states in an article titled, “Protecting Yourself from ID Theft,” that about 28 people in the U.S ., become victims of identity theft every single minute.
Ryan J. Hurley, a professor of communication at NC State, can attest to this. He recently had to get a new debit card because his information was hacked from an online site. Though it didn’t take Hurley long to regain his identity, the fact that it vanished so quickly startled him.
Hurley’s case is only one of many, and the rate of identity fraud is rapidly increasing. On Sept. 7, a case of theft was reported from a Bragaw Hall dorm room that escalated to a felony charge of identity theft, according to publicly available court records.
When a student reported money had been stolen from her room and from her bank account, officers arrested her roommate, Angellina Eun Song, a sophomore in biochemistry. If found guilty of a felony identity theft charge, Song could serve 13 months in prison.
Identity theft doesn’t only occur when paying for something online, and ThreatMetrix highlights five different channels for online fraud: online purchases, online book rentals, online banking, social media sites, and online gaming.
Through all of these outlets, the only things a hacker needs to invade a person’s life are names, addresses, email accounts, phone numbers, social security numbers, credit card numbers, etc.
The most important protection for consumers is to be sure that the site they are using is secure and that they do not give away any unnecessary information.
