Identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in both the US and abroad. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) estimates that identity theft costs consumers as much as $50 billion annually and that this number will likely keep growing (Finklea, 2010, p. 1). Additionally, the FTC receives in excess 250,000 consumer complaints of identity theft each year and this is believed to be only a fraction of the total number of victims (Finklea, 2010, p. 9). There are several types and methods of identity theft and these methods continue to increase as technology becomes increasingly sophisticated. Understanding the types and methods of identity theft can reduce potential victimization. Identity theft refers to unlawful activities which specifically compromise another person’s identity. According to the US Department of Justice (DOJ), identity theft is an activity “in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person’s personal data in some way that involves fraud or deception, typically for economic gain.” Such personal data can include names, Social Security numbers, birthdates, bank accounts, credit card numbers, or medical records. Identity theft can also be part of or enable other types of crimes such as bank, credit card, document, employment, or immigration fraud; robbery; and burglary, for example (Finklea, 2010, p. 2). Identity theft exists on a continuum with simple unauthorized credit card charges on one end all the way to having one’s identity completely assumed by another. The primary use of stolen identities is for credit card fraud which can occur by an offender placing charges on a victim’s existing cards or by opening new accounts in his or her name. A common activity for these fraudsters is to change the billin... ... middle of paper ... ...edding sensitive documents (DOJ, n.d.). It is also important that people do not open any emails or attachments from parties they do not know, refrain from entering personal information online, and monitor their credit reports regularly to reduce their victimization risk. References Finklea, K. (2012, 15 Feb.). Identity theft: Trends and Issues. CRS Report for Congress, R40599. Retrieved from http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R40599.pdf Kuehner-Hebert, K. (2003). Setting new policies to catch identity thieves. American Banker, 168(110), 5A. Lanza, J. (2006, 21 Aug.). Protecting your identity. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Retrieved from http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2006/august/idtheft_082106 U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). (n.d.). Fraud: Identity theft and identity fraud. Retrieved from http://www.justice.gov/ criminal/fraud/websites/idtheft.html
Identity theft is a term used for describing criminal that uses individual’s identity without consent. A common crime of identity theft would be identity fraud. Many of the crimes are regularly connected with money-related issues (Reyns, 2013). With technology being commonly used nowadays we are getting more dependent on it for business, financial, medical, and other forms. As a result this became a target for identity thieves as well. The Internet provides us information and accessibility, but information being stored on the Internet eas...
Identity theft is an increasing epidemic. Some of the ways a person can commit identity
Identity theft is no new problem in our world. It has occurred for decades and only grows more popular with criminals. Due to our world’s expanding technology, identity theft is becoming easier to commit and harder to detect. Luckily as the criminals technology becomes more advanced, so does out justice system’s technology to help fight the crime. The number of criminals that engage in the fraud and thievery will only grow due to the lucrative nature of the crime, but also will the forces that are established to stop them. This white-collar crime will gain more attention and therefore more laws will be passed to protect the public from becoming victims. With the use of laws, task forces, and the education and awareness of the public, identity theft will be given more attention and focus to hopefully deter future threats from occurring.
Introduction In this paper, credit card theft, and how it happens will be discussed through statistics, facts from resources, and cases from Canadian courts. Credit card theft as defined in the Criminal Code of Canada is found in section 342, and states: “(1) Every person who steals a credit card, possesses, uses or traffics in a credit card of a forged or falsified credit card, knowing that it was obtained, made, or altered, or uses accredit card knowing that it has been revoked or cancelled.” ((CC 342 (1)) Subsection 3 of Section 342 deals with Unauthorized use of credit card data, and it is defined as “Every person who, fraudulently and without colour of right, possesses, uses, traffics in or permits another person to use credit card data,
The Internet plays the biggest role in identity theft. On the Internet, a thief can hide from detection while stealing peoples’ identities from their homes, being able to steal peoples’ information one by one “then disappearing into another identity,” (Vacca 60). Internet fraud consists of two phases. The first being spoofing where a fake site is set up made to look like the real thing. Once that is completed the second phase, phishing, begins. This usually starts with an email that uses the
Technology has made life so easy in this present generation to the extent that, we can do virtually almost with it. We can now use technology to protect our privacy and our identity from been stolen. People use passwords, biometrics and other forms of security measures to hide their possessions which include their identity, privacy and valuable properties. While technology has a great advantage when it comes to securing one’s privacy and identity, one of its disadvantages is that privacy identity thieves can still find a way to use technology to intrude people’s privacy and steal their identity.
Video surveillance, wiretapping and RFIDs enable identity theft to be carried out more easily. Identity theft is defined as one stealing another person’s information and claiming it as their own. Many of these technologies can be overtaken by professional hackers, which allows them to have access to all of one’s documents. There has ...
"The Cost of ID Theft, Part 1: Beyond Dollars and Cents." Commerce Times: Business Means Business. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
Identity Theft What is identity theft? Identity theft is the fraudulent acquisition and use of a person's private identifying information, usually for financial gain. Personal Information
Sullivan, C. (2009). Is identity theft really theft? International Review of Law, Computers & Technology, 23(1/2), 77-87. doi:10.1080/13600860902742596
How can we protect ourselves against identity theft? Given all the attention that identity theft has been getting from the mainstream media, I thought I’d spend a little time talking about steps that you can take to protect yourself against identity theft. Yes, it’s mostly just common sense, but we can all use a reminder now and then. Please feel free to pitch in with your own ideas… Use strong (and unique) passwords: Use different passwords for every account, and avoid using easily available information such as your mother’s maiden name, your birthday, part of your social security number, your phone number, your street address, a series of consecutive numbers, etc.
III. Thesis Statement: Identity Theft is rapidly becoming a national issue because anyone of us could be a victim of identity theft. How we protect our self, keep our information private, identify any signs of identity theft, and report and repair our credit is up to each one of us. We have to be vigilant about our protecting ourselves from criminals.
The methods that criminals use to get identity from people are always changing. There are 3 particular categories that these methods can be divided into.The first category is information given away. This method is referred to as the easiest way to steal someones identity. This occurs when people simply just give away information like their address to strangers or when they are not safe online and their personal information can be accessible to anybody.The second category is known as offline methods.This category includes techniques like: dumpster diving, shoulder surfing, wallet or document theft, bogus phone call, skimming, pretexting and business record theft. The third category is refereed to as online methods. This includes ...
One of the worst and most prevalent crimes is identity theft. Such thefts where individuals’ Social Security and credit card numbers are stolen and used by thieves are not new. Criminals have always obtained information about other people by stealing wallets or dumpster digging. But widespread electronic sharing and databases have made the crime worse. Because financial institutions, data processing firms, and retail businesses are reluctant to reveal incidents in which their customers’ personal financial information may have been stolen, lost, or compromised, laws continue to be passed that force those notifications.
Identity theft according to Wikipedia.com is the deliberate assumption of another person's identity, usually to gain access to their finances or frame them for a crime. Less commonly, it is to enable illegal immigration, terrorism, espionage, or changing identity permanently.