Editing Identity theft (section)

== Individual identity protection ==
The acquisition of personal identifiers is made possible through serious breaches of [[privacy]]. For consumers, this is usually a result of them naively providing their personal information or login credentials to the identity thieves (e.g., in a [[phishing attack]]) but identity-related documents such as credit cards, bank statements, utility bills, checkbooks, etc. may also be physically stolen from vehicles, homes, offices, and not the least [[letterboxes]], or directly from victims by pickpockets and bag snatchers. Guardianship of personal identifiers by consumers is the most common intervention strategy recommended by the [[US Federal Trade Commission]], [[PhoneBusters|Canadian Phone Busters]] and most sites that address identity theft. Such organizations offer recommendations on how individuals can prevent their information from falling into the wrong hands.

Identity theft can be partially mitigated by ''not'' identifying oneself unnecessarily (a form of information security control known as risk avoidance). This implies that organizations, IT systems, and procedures should not demand excessive amounts of personal information or credentials for identification and authentication. Requiring, storing, and processing personal identifiers (such as [[Social Security number]], [[national identification number]], driver's license number, credit card number, etc.) increases the risks of identity theft unless this valuable personal information is adequately secured at all times.  Committing personal identifiers to memory is a sound practice that can reduce the risks of a would-be identity thief from obtaining these records.  To help in remembering numbers such as social security numbers and credit card numbers, it is helpful to consider using mnemonic techniques or memory aids such as the [[Mnemonic major system|mnemonic Major System]].

Identity thieves sometimes impersonate dead people, using personal information obtained from death notices, gravestones, and other sources to exploit delays between the death and the closure of the person's accounts, the inattentiveness of grieving families, and weaknesses in the processes for credit-checking. Such crimes may continue for some time until the deceased's families or the authorities notice and react to anomalies.<ref>[http://www.idtheftcenter.org/Fact-Sheets/fs-117.html IDtheftcenter.org<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160417074200/http://www.idtheftcenter.org/Fact-Sheets/fs-117.html|date=17 April 2016}}, Identity Theft Resource Center Fact Sheet 117 Identity Theft and the Deceased - Prevention and Victim Tips.</ref>

In recent years{{When|date=September 2018}}, commercial identity theft protection/insurance services have become available in many countries. These services purport to help protect the individual from identity theft or help detect that identity theft has occurred in exchange for a monthly or annual membership fee or premium.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nextadvisor.com/identity_theft_protection_services/compare.php |title=Identity Theft Protection Services |access-date=2008-12-16 |archive-date=2012-09-07 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120907/http://www.nextadvisor.com/identity_theft_protection_services/compare.php |url-status=dead }} retrieved on 16 December 2008</ref> The services typically work either by setting fraud alerts on the individual's credit files with the three major credit bureaus or by setting up [[credit report monitoring]] with the credit bureau. While identity theft protection/insurance services have been heavily marketed, their value has been called into question.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pcworld.com/article/145077/identitytheft_protection_what_services_can_you_trust.html |title=Identity-Theft Protection: What Services Can You Trust? }} PC World.com, retrieved on 16 December 2008</ref>