|
Term |
Definition |
Additional Information |
| Identity Theft | The act of stealing an individual’s personal information so that the thief can masquerade as that individual. |
Identity theft can manifest by theft of: credit card numbers, bank account numbers, social security number, passwords to online accounts with financial institutions, etc. |
| Identity Fraud | The act of masquerading as another individual, such as using another person’s credit card or checks or applying for credit under another person’s name. | |
| Phishing | A scam in which an email is sent to an individual from someone claiming to be a legitimate business in the hope that the individual will be fooled into surrendering private information. |
The email contains a link to a web site where the user is asked to provide personal information which the legitimate business should already have to confirm the individual’s identity. But the web site is merely a front to steal the individual’s information. |