Editing Identity theft (section)

== Techniques for obtaining and exploiting personal information ==
Identity thieves typically obtain and exploit [[personally identifiable information]] about individuals, or various credentials they use to authenticate themselves, to impersonate them. Examples include:
* Using [[public records]] about individual citizens, published in official registers such as electoral rolls<ref>{{cite news | last=Loviglio | first=Joann| url= http://www.nbcnews.com/id/46874551| title= If Microsoft co-founder's ID isn't safe, is yours? | work= NBC News |date= March 2012 }}{{dead link|date=August 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
* Stealing [[Cheque|cheques (checks)]] to acquire banking information, including account numbers and [[bank code]]s<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.douglascountysheriff.org/idtheft/idtheftmain.htm |title=Identity Theft |access-date=2009-08-02 |archive-date=2012-07-28 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120728/http://www.douglascountysheriff.org/idtheft/idtheftmain.htm |url-status=dead }}, Douglas County Sheriff's Office, Washington</ref>
* Guessing Social Security numbers by using information found on Internet social networks such as [[Twitter]] and [[MySpace]]<ref>{{cite news |last=Olmos |first=David |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aKbjO.Ew4S2E |title=Social Security Numbers Can Be Guessed From Data, Study Finds |publisher=Bloomberg |date=6 July 2009 |access-date=4 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617002156/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aKbjO.Ew4S2E |archive-date=17 June 2013 }}</ref>