What is Spoofing?

This is the practice of deceiving people into believing a Web site or email originates from a place that it does not. There are two types of spoofing with email spoofing being the most common type. The other type is Web page spoofing.

Email Spoofing

A technique that is used by identity thieves to fraudulently send email message. The senders address and other parts of the email header are altered. This is done to appear as though the email originated from a source other than its original source. They use this method to make sure that the actual email address from which spam and phishing messages are sent is disguised. Email spoofing is often used in conjunction with Web page spoofing. The identity thief wants to trick users into providing confidential and personal information. The emails that are spoofed are usually collected or generated by using certain software. The best policy is that if you do not know who the email is from do not open it but if you do open it, do not click on any links in the email.

Web Spoofing

The hacker, or identity thief, uses software to display a Web page they have created that is a duplicate of the actual Web page that is targeted. The actual site is hosted in a different location and is usually used for the purpose of gathering personal or confidential information. When used in conjunction with spoofed emails, the message in the email contains a link to the site. When a visitor logs into the site, they are prompted to provide some piece of personal information, such as username, password, Social Security number, or date of birth. Identity thieves can also disguise the Web site URL and make them very hard to distinguish a spoofed site from the real one.

As you can see, an identity thief does not have to go dumpster diving, or take your credit cards, bank information or Social Security card to steal your identity. There are so many ways it can be done, and each day, there are more and more identity theft scams being discovered. As technology becomes more advanced the identity thief has to stay one step ahead of this technology in order to be able to steal your identity without your knowledge or getting caught. Identity theft has gone from picking your pocket for your wallet to email and Web spoofing.

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• Identity Theft FAQ’s

  • What Are The Penalties For Identity Theft
  • What is Spoofing?
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