Are our Computers stealing our Identity???

(Image net_efekt)

Ok, so in the beginning of the semester, two fellow classmates and I did a presentation on the article "The Long Tail" by Anderson. It was a brief explanation of how online shopping is very popular nowadays. Many Americans surf through the internet to find special bargains and anything that would be on sale online rather than in the store itself. In my sociology course, I came across the term "distance zones" which explains the living of the American life. It means that we Americans like and need to have our space when we are out and about, therefore shopping online is the result. When the holidays come around, we hate being in Herald Square having everyone bump into you every sixteenth of a block, so instead of going to the items, we like the items to come to us. Major sites like Amazon and eBay are huge when it comes to online shopping. The article "The long tail" stated the rises of percentages of purchases throughout the years through these sites. They are very popular and very gentle to our wallets. But, what happens when you make a purchase online and then when you receive your monthly statements and you see purchases that seem odd to you? Purchases that seem outrageously priced and you don't remember doing? Maybe it's because you didn't make that purchase, and someones else did! You could be a victim of fraud! YIKES!!! However, you start to think, how careful you are, your social security isn't posted anywhere online and when it comes to these major sites, your privacy is guaranteed. So how can anyone get your information?? Thats easy, the criminal got the info because you gave it to them through your own computer....literally!
You would never suspect anyone to get your data through your computer. But that is because these criminals are such geniuses that you would NEVER know. That is because your computer will be working in tip-top shape and you won't notice anything is wrong. This was they can log your key strokes and capture your credit card numbers and passwords. Crazy right!!??!! So here are some tips letting you know you are a target!
1. If your computer is experiencing long slowdowns out of know where, there is some fishy program in the background.
2. If you are getting numerous pop-ups that you can't control or delete, you are probably a victim of identity theft.
3. If you are typing a site and you are sent to a weird website you didn't intend to go. or your search results are funny....you are most likely a victim.

(image found on Flickr)

So what can you do??
The best way that you can control or get rid of this is by getting an "anti-virus software". This is a great help because it can detect the program and disable it. However, some can clean out your computer completely for a fee, although some can it for free. So make sure to do your research!!