California a hot spot for ID theft

According to a recent study from Experian's ProtectMyID, people are making it too easy for cyber criminals to steal their identification. Specifically, researchers found that when it came to ecommerce websites such as eBay or Amazon, or social media networks such as Facebook or Twitter, 66 percent of respondents use the same password for at least two accounts. Furthermore, more than half didn't log out of their social media sessions when they were finished, and a mere 18 percent proactively managed their privacy settings regularly. "The increase in web activity and popularity of social media sites has provided a ripe location for people to easily gather information about others and use it for identity theft," said Ken Chaplin, senior vice president for Experian's ProtectMyID. According to the Daily Bulletin, theft using fraudulent identity verification is on the rise in California, and the state ranks third in the nation per capita for the crime.  Chuck Whitlock, a leading authority on ID theft, suggests to the news source that people continuously monitor their information because the earlier a problem is detected, the easier it is to rectify.