One of the easiest ways identity thieves can carry out their crimes is through a computer hard drive. Today, these thieves are becoming more tech savvy with their criminal methods. They seek out the innocent on fraudulent web sites or via email, and they often claim to be IRS agents or members of a banking institution, trying to gather residential addresses, Social Security numbers and bank account information. Another method they take is to visit a computer recycling center to see if hard drives that are being recycled still contain data.
Recently, I needed a spare hard drive for the lab. Instead of purchasing a brand new one, I paid a visit to my local computer recycling center. I found five computers with their hard drives still intact waiting to be recycled. I pulled the hard drives from the computers and took them back to the lab to use as spare drives. Using my forensic software, I looked at the drives to see what, if any, data was still on them. Four of the five drives were wiped clean, meaning that the data was permanently erased from the drive. The other drive contained a wealth of information which could have been used maliciously. I found addresses, social security numbers, medical insurance information, and other information that would be helpful to an identity thief. I wrote a letter to the owner of the computer (with the address I found on the hard drive) and notified them of what could have happened if the hard drive had gotten into the wrong hands.
Contact us for more information about how to keep your digital data protected – info@precisioninvestigations.net.
