Those who aren’t aware of the negative aspects of the online world think that the digital revolution is all about fairy tales and rainbows. Oh, I mean it is all about uploading ‘filtered selfies’ on your social media account, getting a hand on plethora of information and doing online shopping while cozily laying on your couch. Well, it is, but this fairytale also has witches and wizards who are always sitting out there to turn this bliss and glee into sorrows. We are talking about online hackers and identity thieves who never want happy ending of your story.
You never know which one of your actions might turn you into a victim of identity theft. Be it online shopping, a Facebook survey, or a contest you entered.
To your surprise, identity theft is not only threatening for common people. Your favorite celebrities have also become victims of this growing concern. Yes, you heard it right! Can’t believe me? Here is given a list of celebrities who have once been the love of identity thieves as well:
Will Smith:
Who doesn’t know about Will Smith, the man who is not only a critically acclaimed actor (ahm…Pursuit of Happiness is my personal favorite!) but also four-time Grammy award winner? Yes, I am talking about ‘The Will Smith’, our own newly found Mr Genie. But the whole world of this Genie, his identity, was stolen by a not-so-new identity thief Carlos Lomax. The thief was already on probation for defrauding Steve Smith of the Atlanta Hawks. Lomax grabbed around $33,000 by using Smith’s name, but that was the least amount he was able to fraud because he was later caught and sentenced to jail.
Tiger Woods:
If you have a thing for golf or even sports, then it is hard that you haven’t heard the name of Tiger Woods – one of the greatest golfers and famous athletes of this time. But what you might not know is that this champ once lost his identity to a known identity thief, Anthony Lemar Taylor. And this loss cost more than $50,000 to Woods as Taylor applied for many credit cards in the champion golfer’s name. He splurged this money to maybe taste the luxurious life of Woods by buying luxury things, like a car and some electronic appliances. But unfortunately, Taylor wasn’t able to enjoy this newly acquired wealth (well, stolen to be precise!) as he got caught and was sentenced 200 years to life in jail.
Kim Kardashian:
A hacker took the reality show “Keeping up with the Kardashians” too personal that he decided to keep up with the personal information of Kim Kardashian. Yes, lady Kardashian is on this list too. Kim has always managed to stay in the news for all the right and wrong reasons. But in 2013, she flashed in news, not because of her body augmentation or facelift antic, but because her identity was stolen. Thieves, named Luis Flores, Jr. and his mother, Kyah Green, robbed Kim of her identity when they cheated and asked her about her security number. Though the mother-son criminal duo was caught, they gave Kardashians’ fans another cover page story.
The moral of these celebrities’ identity theft stories is that no one is safe in this cyber world. You never know when and how you become a victim of identity theft and hacking. The lesson here is to be vigilant in protecting your data. Don’t be afraid of technology, for example financial institutions reserve some of the most high tech security encryption on the web so you can still safely send money on your phone to anyone around the world with a secure and user friendly app. Just do your research and keep track of your transactions to safely protect your identity.