|
CBC MARKETPLACE: SCAMS » IDENTITY
THEFT
Sc@mmed: Inside the world
of online identity theft
Broadcast: November
6, 2005
Rebroadcast: March 19, 2006
| QUOTE |
“You
don’t realize how easy it is for somebody
else to access your personal information, without
ever meeting you, without ever laying eyes
on you,” says Val Broeckx. |
|
The tiny and picturesque town of Summerland,
British Columbia, is not exactly the place where you’d
expect to find victims of high-tech crime. But
what happened to
Val Broeckx could happen to anyone - no matter where
they live.
Broeckx carefully keeps track of the books
at home. Every month, she meticulously checks her credit
card receipts against her charges. Then shreds the receipts
so no one can get hold of her personal information.
But last Christmas, Broeckx’s MasterCard
bill had a mysterious charge from PayPal,
a company that acts as a financial middle-man, helping
people buy and sell things on the internet.
Val Broeckx is the victim of a type of identity
theft. |
|
Broeckx had last used PayPal to buy a computer
program to teach herself Spanish. But that was a long time
ago and she had no idea where a charge for $1,000 came
from.
“I was freaked,” she recalls. “I
knew something majorly wrong had happened. I knew I hadn’t
used my Pay Pal in over a year.”
Broeckx is the victim of a type of identity
theft.
It’s called “phishing,” because crooks
try to hook you online by sending you bait – e-mails
that look like they’re from legitimate companies.
The messages trick you into revealing
personal information – like
credit card numbers, passwords, and social insurance numbers.
With the click of your mouse, the damage is done.
|
CBC
does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of
the links posted below. CBC does not necessarily agree with
nor has it verified the accuracy of information linked to.
Links will open in new window.
