I responded to an ad online about an apartment. Several emails were exchanged before I found out it was a scam. Other than my email address and full name, i sent nothing, but I did use my home computer and told them where I worked. Can my identity be stolen?
I responded to an ad online about an apartment. Several emails were exchanged before I found out it was a scam. Other than my email address and full name, i sent nothing, but I did use my home computer and told them where I worked. Can my identity be stolen?
Giving your full name did more damage than emailing him. Your IP number can only be used to determine your approximate geographic location. Any more info would have to come from your internet service provider and they aren’t going to give that up without a court order.
Be aware though, that with your real name, much can be discovered about you, including where you live thanks to certain search websites that make this information freely available.
If they can get into your email, probably. Just having the email address, no.
For example, my email address is public record, as is my name, address, and phone number. This is part of the domain registration for some of the websites I run. Anybody can look at the WHOIS for my site, and know exactly who and where I am. They still can’t do anything except call me, or maybe send me a postcard.
The real risk comes when you use the same password for multiple accounts. If I gain access to your email, odds are I can get into your online banking within a few hours, or minutes in some cases. Of course, there are security questions occasionally, but MySpace, FaceBook, and all that other nonsense made them useless for protection unless you use a completely unpredictable answer. Everything is linked nowadays. Of course, lets be honest, you probably don’t have anything worth the effort. No offense… but if I’m going to risk jail time, I’m not stealing the $400 you managed to save up last year. I’d hit an internet cafe for a few hours/days and just ransack everyone’s account at once. No way to stop that, especially with the absolute lack of protection that SSL provides.