The identity thief's first step is to find a SOCKS client from the country in which the credit card is issued; this allows them to ensure that the computer being used in the same location (regionally speaking) as the location of the credit card holder. SOCKS is short for SOCKetS and these are basically third party services that were intended for other things but which also have been used by scam artists in the past to steal the identities of other people around the world. If they have this piece of software installed and access to your credit card number (obtainable through any number of different methods from computerized hacking to simply searching through a bill in your trash), then what they essentially have because of it is carte blanche to make any purchases on your behalf. These two things allow a person access to the full gamut of items. They can purchase software and books online in your name and since the modern commerce market is largely based on the internet, this essentially means they can purchase anything they want with your money instead of their own.

Now of course major companies know this, so they will be interested in trying to prevent this kind of theft from taking place on their watch; or at least they will try to make you believe that you are safe in dealing with them. They'll have security processes like calling a person by phone to verify personal information or any other security measure you've seen on the internet before when shopping. These are well intentioned things for a person or company to be doing, but when it comes right down to it, they are not really going to cut it when it comes to the people who really know the identity theft scam well.

Let us assume, for the sake of argument, that purchasing a particular product requires a telephone verification of the credit card holder as well as transference of the physical credit card picture as well as pictures of two supporting documents that prove that the card holder and the purchaser are the same person. No company would ever go to these lengths because it would inconvenience the typical shopper way too much, but for the sake of argument let us assume that the thief is faced with this maximum security scenario.

The first thing that the thief will do is make sure that they get themselves a free voice over IP line through either Skype or another online service. They will then get an online fax number with a similar service. Through the utilization of both of these services, they will be able to pretend that your contact information is those two numbers. In addition to those two numbers, they will also be able to use their own Photoshop skills or that of another person working with them in order to make fake documents that could easily pass for the real time. Companies are not naturally suspicious of people, especially when they do the same verification on everyone. With that in mind, anything that looks reasonable in terms of the whole scenario overall will pass through their inspection and therefore enable the thief to get what they want.

The really good identity thieves will even be able to mimic your behavior when you use your credit card. They will know the approximate credit limit of your credit card by the rank of the card (gold, classic, etc.) which they will immediately be able to recognize from the first six digits of your credit card number. Then they will be able to use all of the information they previously have to get a copy of your most recent transaction statements sent to them. The really crafty thieves will have this racket going on multiple accounts at once and therefore not need to spend a lot of money on your specific account; this in turn means that they will be able to mimic your behavior and avoid arousing suspicion for months and if you yourself aren't very observant maybe even years.

Professional ID Thieves know exactly what they are doing and have the ability to take your money and make your life a living hell while doing it. There is no good way to legally battle identity thieves so the best thing to do is to protect your credit card and other personal information. This information is quite literally your life and protecting it is akin to making sure that your life is safe.

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