One of the fastest growing forms of identity theft is due to cyber crime.  Cyber crime is basically any crime that involves a computer and a network.  These days, cyber crime could also be committed by using a tablet or smartphone.

Some people believe that the only way to become a victim of cyber crime is by making online purchases. This gives them a false sense of security.  An identity thief could commit cyber crime in quite a few different ways.  For instance they could access your home network router and get onto your home network just by parking outside near your home.  It is very important to secure access to your computers, networks, smartphones, tablets, etc.

Another form of cyber theft this has been in the news lately is when the identity thief performs a database breech.  They gain access to personal information stored in database servers.  All you have to do is check the news and you will see stories after stories of companies and organizations falling victims to a data breech exposing the personal information of thousands and sometimes millions of people.

With the popularity of Social Media these days, it is also giving rise to another form of cyber crime.  This involves stealing your profile pictures and creating a new profile with your picture.  Or hijacking your social media or email account to send out messages to your friend and solicit funds or favors.

The identity thieves know that these types of crime are new and there are not a lot of laws on the books to help to convict or go after the identity thieves.  So their chances of getting away with it are pretty good. They also know that a good majority of the people have their guards down when on social media, they post too much personal information and are quick to accept a “friend request” without really knowing who the person really is.  This gives the identity thief an easy way to learn about them and get enough information to steal their identity.