Online Identity in the News Week of 2/23/09
Each week we post stories from around the web and media that detail how identity affects society and its importance. As always, feel free to post links you have found in the comments. Here is the roundup for the week of 2/23/2009:
Consumers Are Unwilling to Sacrifice Convenience for Security, Despite Widespread Online Fraud
Two-thirds of U.S. consumers use the same password for all websites requiring authentication and they are not using software or hardware to manange their passwords. While most Americans are concerned about online identity fraud many are not willing to sacrifice the convenience of only having to memorize one easy password. There needs to be stronger requirements for people to create passwords on these websites and the consumer needs to realize the effect of having only one password and rethink how they go about signing up for things on line.
Identity Theft Costs a Record $56.6 Billion
Identity theft, the biggest source of U.S. consumer fraud, costs a record $56.6 billion in cash, goods, and services. Two thirds of victims have no out-of-pocket expense (because banks and credit card companies seldom ask victims to cover any charges), for about 3 million victims, the average cost of repairing their credit was nearly $1,200 and for all victims the average time to set the record straight was 40 hours. Luckily there has been a decline in identity theft since 2004 which may be due to more people doing online bill pay. Not having a paper trail of statements and receipts has helped lower the numbers of fraud cases.
Love Dilemmas: Is My Online Date a Scammer?
As if dating online isn’t hard enough, ladies beware. You may feel like you are being romanced by an attractive well to do gentleman who recites you poetry and tells you how much he enjoys your conversations, but watch out if he ever claims to be stuck in a “travel emergency” and needs you to wire him a few thousand dollars. Remember anyone can pretend to be anyone online, you wouldn’t give $2,000 to a random person on the street so don’t give out your money to your online companion.
A similar take on how American consumers are using the same password (the dogs name for instance) for all of their online activity thinking that their financial institutions will protect them. However, you never get all of your money back if your checking account gets defrauded. There needs to be stronger password protection on these sites and the users need to think about purchasing software that will protect their assets.
With the economy the way that it is, job seekers are having a difficult time making themselves stand out from the competition. This article tells the tale of Betty who had a great resume and a successful interview but was passed up on the job due to something she didn’t even know existed. There was another Betty with the same name and a similar birthday and this Betty had a nice long criminal history. Betty found this out using a new Facebook application called True Scoop and after running a check on herself she knew that this employer had mistaken her for criminal Betty. Good example of why job seekers should check their own background.
Interesting article about how art imitates life. There is a play being put on in Chelsea, MA called the Dark Horse which tells the tale of two people who meet in an online dating chatroom 14- year-old Nick, a web surfing teen who comes across an online personals ad from 16 year-old Adam. Nick responds to the ad as “Rachel,” and the two begin an online rapport and romance; but the emotional stakes are raised when they meet in real life, and Adam discovers the girl of his dreams is really a boy. This play is based on a real life story about two people in England. One of the actors is quoted saying, “Take a flip through Facebook, mosey around MySpace. or fix your target on Manhunt, and a curious reality becomes clearnever before has it been so easy to construct our own persona”
New, Misguided Online Child-Safety Laws Will Hurt Business
In the most recent effort to thwart child predators online, both the US. House and Senate are considering bills that would require any Internet access provider, possibly including public Wi-Fi hotspots, to retain Internet user data for up to two years. But, what about the increasing numbers of businesses that offer free Internet to customers and even the general public? And how do you maintain such records if you go over to someones house and they give you a password for your access point? Some people believe this is a major privacy violation and a burdern even if it does keep some criminals at bay.
With More Employers Using MySpace and Facebook for Background Checks, Legal Experts Advise Caution
More business owners are turning to internet searches to find out more about their current and potential employees, and finding more personal information than they bargained for just by Googling their names. The three points state that 1. Yes it is legal to search social networking sites as part of a background check, 2. Yes you can be terminated, or not hired based on information found on the internet and 3. Yes employers should use reliable background checking companies to do checks on all potential candidates because half of the information on the internet is just not true.
Students Wary Of Identity Theft
A new identity theft scam has been causing havoc amongst many college students in campuses all over the country in regards to selling used books online. The scam occurs when, as a form of payment, students receive a check that is written out for more than the amount requested. The scam artist then requests that the seller cashes the check and sends the extra funds back to the purchaser. Because this is actually a fraudulent act, the check bounces and it becomes the responsibility of the seller. These students need to be more cautious about how they go about making quick money. If it seems to good to be true, it probably is.
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