Swiped: how to protect yourself in a world full of scammers, phishers, and identity thieves / Adam Levin with Beau Friedlander

Includes index.

An overview of the problem. What's in a name (and a number)? ; A short history of identity (and fraud) : (and you thought it was just about credit cards) ; Swiping happens --
The basics of what you can do. Understanding the problem is the solution ; The three Ms --
The many types of identity theft. Spies in your home : how the Internet of Things may violate your privacy, threaten your security, and ruin your credit ; A taxing situation ; It's a hard-knock life : child identity theft ; May the farce be with you : social media dos and don'ts ; From dangerous to deadly : on healthcare scams and medical identity theft ; Wanted dead or alive : (but it's easier if you're dead) ; Culture eats strategy : business considerations ; The three Ms for companies : you must build it because they will come ; The highest law --
Resources and terms. Appendix 1. Fraud stories --
Appendix 2. A glossary of scams --
Appendix 3. Identity theft and the deceased : prevention and victim tips --
Appendix 4. Request a credit report for the deceased --
Appendix 5. Deceased affidavit of fact.

Increasingly, identity theft is a fact of life. We might once have hoped to protect ourselves from hackers with airtight passwords and aggressive spam folders, and those are good ideas as far as they go. But the truth is, there are people out there -- a lot of them -- who treat stealing your identity as a full-time job. One such company is a nameless firm located in Russia, which has a trove of over a billion internet passwords. Another set up a website full of live streams of hacked web cameras, showing everything from people's offices and lobbies to the feeds from baby monitors. Even purchases made in person are still logged by retailers like Target, who are famously vulnerable to hackers. Adam Levin, a longtime consumer advocate and identity fraud expert, is your guide to this brave new world. By telling memorable stories and extracting the relevant lessons, he offers a strategy for dealing with these risks. You may not be able to prevent identity theft, but you certainly shouldn't wait until it happens to take action. Levin's approach is defined by the three M's: minimizing risk, monitoring your identity, and managing the damage. The book is also organized around the different problems caused by identity theft: financial, criminal, medical, familial, etc., enabling readers to dip into the sections most relevant to them. Swiped is a practical, lively book that is essential to surviving the ever-changing world of online security. It is invaluable not only for preventing problems but helping cope when they arrive.