Identity Theft news stories

It may start with a few stolen details online, but it could end with thousands of dollars missing or worse, a reputation down the drain.

World Password Day provides a timely reminder for ordinary citizens and organisations to stop and think about the risks associated with digital identities.

Identity credentialing, proving you are who you say you are, needs to catch up to the technologies available. Currently, most organisations use simple means.

Norton has found 5% of New Zealanders experienced identity theft in 2021, and 10% have clicked on a fraudulent package notification link in the past 12 months.

New Zealanders are becoming increasingly worried about their personal data privacy, according to a new InternetNZ survey.

The pandemic has led to a surge in synthetic identity and account takeover fraud, which threaten the security of entire accounts, alongside associated payment data.

MailGuard has intercepted phishing emails designed to harvest personal details from LinkedIn members.

Data breaches and cyberattacks are no longer just an online issue.

Bot detection and mitigation company Netacea has published new research into the Genesis Market, an invite-only deep web marketplace that trades in digital fingerprints and enables buyers to impersonate victims online.

More than a tenth of gamers have had their ID stolen – which could be worth as much as $347bn globally, according to new research.

As many as 1 in 6 New Zealanders have been a victim of identity theft, and the consequences can be disastrous - and it may lead to more than just financial loss.

"The consequences of this malicious activity can have a significant impact on the lives of the victims for years to come."

Between 29 December 2019 and 29 January 2020, the company alleges that an ‘unidentified’ third party gained access to its online application system and captured personal information belonging to some of its members.

The breach potentially exposed personal information such as names, dates of birth, genders, email addresses, and encrypted passwords, as well as users’ beauty preferences.

“These findings show many people are seeing the damage of cyber crime or identity theft firsthand.”

Of course, identity theft isn’t a purely online phenomenon. Criminals can use details found in the post or from discarded documents.

“People shouldn’t be worried about internet banking. They should be worried about what information they’re giving people who can impersonate them.

Cybercriminals are ditching the ‘quick buck’ methods of stealing credit cards and are instead going after identity data.

According to Verizon’s 2017 Data Breach Investigation Report, 81% of hacking-related breaches leveraged stolen or weak passwords.

“Fraudsters are always coming up with new ways to steal our money. They trick people into handing over personal information."

The power of technology is awesome, yet it is important to understand that as this power continues to progress, people must make a tough decision .

The dark web may be a place that most of us have heard of as a murky underworld for cybercriminals, but also where most internet users daren't tread.

All it takes is for malicious code to be injected through the NFC feature on a smartphone and a hacker pushing out malicious RFID signal to a phone."

Your identity is as dear to you as your life. Now, imagine having your identity stolen from you without your knowledge.