Cyberstalking Can Lead to ID Theft

The internet mirrors real life in more ways than one, particularly in relation to crime. And stalking is no exception. In the real world, statistics point to more men stalking women but in cyberspace, anyone and everyone no matter what the gender or age, becomes a target.

Considered as online abuse or even harassment, cyberstalking is the use of the internet to seek victims, ranging from simply pestering from the other end of the line and to following the victim in person with the goal to commit a crime. More recently, however, cyberstalking has become the basis for another crime—identity theft.

Each year, there are more new cases of identity theft reported. Among these cases, there are a growing number of identity theft crimes that have generated from cyberstalking. One of the most common reasons for this is the proliferation and popularity of networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace. Most of us are members of at least one of these highly addictive websites and have willingly posted personal information and photos of ourselves. It's an efficient way to stay in touch with friends and family, but unless your profile is restricted to those you know, it may be a ready target for cyber criminals.

Unlike some cases of identity theft in which the thief never knows what the victim looks like, cyberstalking gives potential criminals exposure to your exact physical appearance from online photo albums. Without digging too deep, they can know what you've been up to, where you’ve been, and who you were with from regularly updated postings. With this information, strangers can pose as their victims and track down other information such as financial and employment data that they can steal.

Such an incident happened a couple years ago to Claire Miller, an executive in New York (article here). Harassed by late night visits by strangers and unsolicited phone calls and emails, Miller discovered that her identity was being impersonated on an adult personals site. How and from where her information was lifted is still a mystery. But with possibilities like networking sites and message boards, one can only guess.

Despite anti cyberstalking and ID theft legislation implemented by the US, the fact is that it's very difficult to trace back a cyberstalking incident to the place where it all began. It could have started on your Facebook profile page where you've posted a photo or even a message thread in a forum where you've left your full name. The main thing is to not disclose too much, and if you still feel the need to share, make your profiles private. Many young people have an issue with this, often opening up their lives to potential stalkers and identity thieves with their tell-all networking profiles.

Jayne Hitchcock of WHOA (Working to Halt Online Abuse) surmises that stalking and resulting identity fraud can be done by an old acquaintance, neighbor or former lover. Calling such incidents "internet road rage," she claims that it's imperative that such abusive online acts be reported to the police right away because they can lead to even greater threats in person, including other forms of identity theft.