Payback for ID Theft

摘要

While Ray Adams was participating in an eBay auction, he received an e-mail asking him to update his account. It appeared to originate from eBay, so he provided his credit card number, Social Security number, phone, and address. When he realized he had fallen for a phishing e-mail, it was already too late. Since the incident occurred, nearly four years ago, Adams has become the victim of repeated identity-theft attacks ranging from attempts to open new credit card and cell-phone accounts in his name to bank-account takeovers. "This entails a lot of worrying and loss of sleep. Not knowing what is coming next, I am looking over my shoulder all the time. It makes you paranoid knowing that somebody is out there using your information," he says.