Cyber Monday is a prime day for identity thieves

November 26, 2012 is Cyber Monday and likely to be the single highest day of revenue gains for online retailers this year. In 2011, internet sales were estimated to have taken in $1.25 million, which was a record for the single highest grossing day in the history of the online marketplace. Because of the high volume of capital transactions that day, Cyber Monday is also an ideal day for cyber criminals and identity thieves. Some scams involve emails or phishing, requests for personal information made to look legitimate. Other scams might exist through social media sites as fake promotions. Some criminals may have software capabilities to link through stolen credit card numbers to other accounts, addresses and Social Security information, making it possible to open an account in consumers' names. These can lead to devastating effects on consumer credit reports and debt collection data. Retailers should have proper web security in place and consider implementing ID verification software to ensure the validity of customer transactions. Taking extra steps in procuring data security is crucial to protecting the assets of the company as well as the consumers' information.