Identity Thefts: The Consequences Of Identity Theft
opinion Essay
1436 words
Identity theft can be described as the misappropriation of another
person’s identity that typically involves impersonating someone else and taking up that
person 's personality. Most cases of identity theft frequently involve the need to access
valuable resources or take credit and other advantages that accompany a renowned
person 's title. Victims of identity theft (people whose identities have been stolen) stand to
suffer unfavorable consequences if they are assumed responsible for the actions of the
perpetrator. Identity theft happens when an individual illegally acquires and exploits
other people’s private information such as names or PIN numbers to carry out swindles
or other offenses. While this nature of identity theft
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In this essay, the author
- Opines that victims of identity theft (people whose identities have been stolen) stand to.
- Explains that such types of theft have a thin threshold that allows them to be categorized as theft.
- Explains that misdemeanors take place over a span of several hours.
- Analyzes the rise in identity theft, not as the final crime but as an insurance crime.
- Describes several sets of useful individual identity such as date of births and pins.
- Explains that fake credit cards may posses account and names of genuine account holders.
- Explains that documents lower the chances of being arrested.
- Describes the basic criminals that double up as violent offenders.
- Explains that they use the acquired identity to create new credit cards and bank accounts.
- Opines that they must be investigated in depth since it holds the key to understanding their drive.
- Opines that the lack of proper internet connections has led to people using the internet to connect with others.
- Opines that more studies need to be conducted on this crime.
- Explains that perpetrating a crime is to commit it without being revealed. committing an offense under the identity of another person for that reason is an appealing proposal.
- Analyzes how kathleen, the woman behind numerous city bombings and murders, took up the identity of sara olson.
- Narrates how anania married, became a doctor, bore three children, volunteered for charity in africa.
- Explains that all terrorists involved in the september 11 attack on the united states were protected by experts in identity theft.
- Explains that it is relatively easy to perpetrate identity theft crimes since there is a wealth of ready personal information on the internet, or attached to other emails.
- Opines that most victims of identity theft are approximately 40 years of age and residing in the united states.
Regardless of the
approach, such types of theft have a thin threshold that allows them to be categorized as
genuine “identity thefts” (Lenardon 43). Stolen credit cards may be used for fraudulent
purposes and returned to the owner’s possession without them even realizing. Such
misdemeanors take place over a span of several hours. In such a situation, it may be
difficult to prove that identity theft occurred.
More interesting is the rise in identity theft not as the final crime but as insurance
cover for perpetrating new crimes. The theft of personal documents is usually perpetrated
with an intention of facilitating other serious crimes. An experienced identity thief strives
to acquire several sets of useful individual identity such as date of births and PIN
numbers, and use these to create supplementary documents. The deliberate exploitation
of this information through different channels such as telephone, online, personal contact
with bank tellers, and even applying for new credit cards contribute towards acquiring
more information that is personal for instance, bank details, driver’s permit and
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What Motivates Offenders of Identity Theft
Concealment is one of the key motivators that drive many offenders to commit
identity theft crimes. Concealing previous crimes is a significant reason for people to
steal or take up fake identities. A prominent example is that of Kathleen, the woman
behind numerous city bombings and murders who took up the identity of Sara Olson, a
Scandinavian national living in Minnesota. She managed to avoid being arrested for over
two decades (Anania et al., 178). During this period, she married a became a doctor, bore
three children, took up a job as a community volunteer, volunteered for charity in Africa
and moved to a fashionable neighborhood in Minnesota (Lenardon 56). Terrorism has
emerged as a significant channel through which identities are stolen to cover up criminal
activities, and to complicate the investigation of their genuine identities after they have
perpetrated crimes. All of the terrorists involved in the September 11 attack on the United
States were protected by experts in identity theft in different ways. This contributed to a
massive security problem when innocent American citizens who were the victims
Related
- analytical
- explanatory
- Essay On Identity Theftanalytical essayApproximately one out of every twenty-five people in the United States will be affected with identity theft and other such fraudulent activities each and every year. Identity theft and fraud are one of the most prevalent and pervasive crimes. Each year, the losses from identity theft, total in over hundreds of billions of dollars. Federal and state governments have stepped up in trying to prevent and stop identity theft. How does an everyday citizen understand identity theft and fraud? This essay will help by discussing the identity theft cycle and the justification and excuses for committing fraud such as identity theft.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that one out of every twenty-five people in the united states will be affected with identity theft and other fraudulent activities each and every year.
- Analyzes copes and vieraitis' study titled bounded rationality of identity thieves: using offender-based research to inform policy.
- States that congress passed the fair and accurate credit transactions act (facta) in 2003 to protect consumers and victims of identity theft and fraud.
- Explains that 48 states have laws on the books to protect citizens against identity theft and fraud. however, there are still many cases of identity fraud and theft.
- Explains that a thief goes through various stages when trying to steal someone's identity, which is called the identity theft cycle.
- Explains that in the first stage of the cycle, the thief gains and verifies the victim's information. in the second stage, action, he puts his plan to work with the information they have gained by gathering documents and planning their cover ups.
- Explains that a powerful and strong discovery stage will build strong foundations, whereas weak discovery stages will not be able to support them.
- Explains that many thieves spend a lot of time on discovery to make sure they have the confidence and ability to pull off the scam. those that don't focus enough attention and time to discovery are usually the easiest to catch.
- Explains that the perpetrators begin to collect the necessary tools by applying for a driver’s license, bogus credit cards, or fake checks in the name of the victim.
- Explains that in the third stage known as trial, the perpetrator will go through three different dimensions.
- Explains that the perpetrator has gained enough confidence that their fraud is working and will move onto "large-ticket" items. once they have successfully pulled off these frauds, they will establish bank accounts or loans in the name of the victim.
- Explains that there have been many studies and extensive research done to explain why perpetrators do what they do in the cases of fraud and identity theft.
- Explains that one of the first studies to explain fraud or identity theft is from cressey (1953) other people’s money. the other studies helped to better understand justifications and excuses.
- Explains that many perpetrators offer excuses and justifications that will maintain their self-image and that of them in their own social groups.
- Argues that the way a perpetrator explains or justifies their crime matches their actions with their own self-image as well as how they are viewed in social circles and cultural circles.
- Explains that perpetrators will explain it in a way that allows them to reject the idea that they are criminal.
- Analyzes pontell's research paper titled identity theft: bounded rationality, research, and policy, which argues that identity theft is not a crime since it is nonviolent and involves modest sums of money.
- Analyzes pontell's argument that identity fraud should not be classified as white-collar crime but rather as organized crime.
1125 wordsRead More - Identity Theft Throughout Historyexplanatory essayIdentity Theft I’ve decided to write my research paper on the issue of identity theft. Identity theft has occurred all throughout history in various ways and forms. Today, it is one of the fastest growing crimes occurring all over the world. Data suggests that identity theft accounts for roughly $50 billion stolen each year from citizens and businesses in the U.S. I believe that more attention should be targeted towards identity theft because of the detrimental effects it can have on a single victim and on our nation’s economy. Topics I will discuss include statistics about the crime, laws that protect the victims of the crimes, and what we are doing to prevent future attacks from happening.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes occurring all over the world. they argue that more attention should be targeted towards it because of its detrimental effects on a single victim and on our nation's economy.
- Explains that identity theft began mostly as a political tool to stuff ballot boxes or used by teenagers to obtain fake id’s in order to get around laws that prohibited underage people from participating in certain activities.
- Explains that government officials have become aware of the danger that white-collar crime "identity theft" holds. special agencies such as the ftc and the bureau of justice statistics have maintained statistics and records on the number of documented reports of identity theft each year.
- Explains that criminals typically intend on stealing someone's identity, it doesn't usually happen on accident. the most common ways that thieves get personal information are by looking over people’s shoulders at an atm or listening as you give your credit card information over a phone.
- States that new laws are imposed to protect victims of identity theft by requiring consumer reporting agencies (cras) to place alerts on their credit files.
- Explains that each state has its own set of laws regarding identity theft. in ohio, it's an automatic felony, while other states have similar laws.
- Explains that criminals will use a person's identity as an easy access to economic gain using the stolen identity.
- Opines that america's government and justice system have worked together over the past years to combat identity theft.
- Opines that identity theft is no new problem in our world. it has occurred for decades and only grows more popular with criminals.
1355 wordsRead More - Essay On Identity Theftexplanatory essayIdentity 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.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in both the us and abroad.
- Explains that identity theft is an unlawful activity that compromises another person's identity. identity theft can include names, social security numbers, birthdates, bank accounts, credit card numbers or medical records.
- Explains that stolen identities are used for credit card fraud and document fraud. they also have national security and terrorism implications because of their transnational nature.
- Explains that identity theft can occur in many ways, including "dumpster diving," "shoulder surfing," and "stealing mail from unlocked mailboxes."
- Explains that the internet has facilitated identity theft to unprecedented levels. phishing and spam emails are specifically designed to solicit personal information and have achieved tremendous success.
- Explains that identity theft knows no geographical boundaries and identity thieves can operate alone or as part of a larger organized criminal syndicate.
- Explains that potential victims can protect themselves from identity theft by not carrying sensitive information such as social security cards on them, by locking one’s mailbox or stopping mail delivery if they will be out of town for an extended period, and by using firewalls and antivirus and anti-spyware software on their computers.
- Cites finklea, k. (2012, 15 feb.). identity theft: trends and issues. crs report for congress.
810 wordsRead More - What Is Identity Theftanalytical essayThe average number of U.S identity theft victims annually is 11, 571, 900 and the total financial loss attributed to identity theft in 2013 is 21 billion dollars (Identity theft/fraud statistics, 2013).Identity theft does not discriminate against age, race, or income. Anyone can be affected by identity theft. The most vulnerable age group to this crime ranges from age 18 to 24; followed by the age group 35 to 49. The most reported cases of identity theft involve financial motivation (Perl, 2003). Identity theft falls into three categories: financial identity theft, non-financial identity theft, and criminal record identity theft. Financial identity theft is the category that our paper will be focusing on. Non-financial identity theft involves telecommunications and utilities fraud or using the victim’s information to get government documents. This can be used to enter the country illegally or plan and execute terrorist attacks. Criminal record identity theft is basically the criminal using an innocent person’s clean record, meaning the person does not have a criminal record, to dodge being arrested.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that identity theft occurs when someone steals your personal identifying information. this can be attributed to weaknesses in the structure in which personal information flows in society.
- Explains that identity theft does not discriminate against age, race, or income. the most vulnerable age group to this crime ranges from 18 to 24.
- Analyzes how amar singh and his wife neha punjani- singh orchestrated an identity theft ring that stole a total of 13 million dollars from unsuspecting victims.
588 wordsRead More - The Pros And Cons Of Identitytheftexplanatory essayThis shows that identity theft is a growing problem that needs to be addressed (VanderPal). The United States Department of Justice, a branch of the United States government, defines identity theft as “terms used to refer to all types of crime in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person's personal data in some way that involves fraud or deception, typically for economic gain.” Identitytheft.info, a website edited by Rob Douglas, an identity theft expert, states, “…every individual or business is vulnerable to attack when it comes to personal or corporate information, products and services.” They also state, “As the methods used to perform identity theft expand, so do the types of accounts and services being stolen by identity thieves” (“Identity Theft Statistics”). As shown above, millions of people are being affected by identity theft in the United States, and it is only
In this essay, the author
- Explains that identity theft is a growing problem that needs to be addressed.
- Explains that identity theft is a problem because millions of people are losing large amounts of money to thieves over the internet.
- Explains that identity theft is a growing problem that affects millions of people in the united states.
- Opines that improving your account can deter thieves from attempting to steal your information in search of an easier target. strong passwords may not work, as there are many ways to get around passcodes.
- Explains that credit freezes are an effective way of preventing identity theft. freezing your credit file is an extreme step that removes you from the credit marketplace.
- Explains that identity protection services are effective at stopping thieves from taking your personal information.
- Explains that security services are effective at stopping identity thieves from gaining your personal information. if used, less people would be affected by identity theft, and someone’s credit could be saved.
1756 wordsRead More - Identity Theft And Identity Aftanalytical essayIt was reported by Javelin Strategy & Research, frequency of identity theft reached an all-time high in 2016. In fact, it was estimated that 15.4 billion consumers were victims of some form of identity theft. In the report written by Javelin Strategy & Research it was stated, “2016 will be remembered as a banner year for fraudsters as numerous measures of identity fraud reached new heights” (Sullivan). Although many Americans do not appreciate what identity theft is or what it entails, there were a total of sixteen billion individuals that fell prey last year. Identity theft is also known as identity fraud, “it is a crime in which an imposter obtains key pieces of personality identifiable information, such as a Social Security number, to
In this essay, the author
- Explains that javelin strategy & research reported that 15.4 billion consumers were victims of identity theft in 2016. identity theft is a serious offense that affects the victim's personal life and professional life.
- Analyzes how the national minimum drinking age act, which raised the legal age for drinking alcohol, inspired underage teenagers to commit identity theft and fraud by forging fake ids.
- Explains the unintended effect of government laws on illegal immigration. the immigration reform and control act of 1986 stimulated another upsurge of identity theft.
- Explains how the illegal market for identity theft became more sophisticated as employers were required to provide documented proof of employees’ citizenship to the united states government.
- Explains the three categories of identity theft: true name fraud and account takeover. on-line accounts have facilitated criminals to steal identities, since transactions do not require a second form of identification.
- Explains that identity thieves prefer old-fashion data collection methods such as dumpster diving, shoulder surfing, phishing, or spam compared to more tech-savvy methods.
1100 wordsRead More - What Is Identity Theft?explanatory essayIdentity Theft According to Reyns (2013), Identity theft is a term used to categorize several offenses involving the fraudulent use of an individual’s personal information for criminal purposes without their consent. When someone has decided to hijack someone's personal identification information it not only causes financial damage but also impacts the victim's reputation. In order to seek justice, a Forensic Accountant can be utilized to help with recovering the damages caused by identity theft to a make the victim whole again. Identity theft is an increasing epidemic.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that identity theft is an increasing epidemic.
- Explains that a perpetrator can do this by using another individual's personal information.
- Opines that if a person perpetrates 100,000 or more by using thirty-three personal items, he or she will be imprisoned.
- Opines that harsher sentencing by the court of law can be implemented.
- Explains that the amount perpetrated is 5,000 with the use of ten or more deceased people but less.
- Explains how the process ensures that there is support proof that fraud has taken place.
- Explains that surveillance can be used as evidence in an investigation process such as identity theft.
- Explains that the next steps would compute a fraud report. the fraud report would address identity theft.
- Describes the civil actions that can be taken against the perpetrator.
- Explains that identification was used to have accounts or any accounts closed and removed from the credit.
- Explains that theft are financial, driver license, medical, child, and synthetic identity theft.
- Describes the misdemeanors associated with the severity of the crime as a forensic accountant.
- Explains that a forensic accountant can be utilized to help with recovering damages caused.
- Defines identity theft as using someone else’s personal information such as date of birth, social security number, etc. without the other person's consent.
- Explains that a third-degree felony is charged if someone illegally uses someone’s personal information and has monetary benefits in excess of 5,000.
- Explains that harassing someone without their consent will be charged with first-degree misdemeanor. the charge can increase if the offense is furthered with a public record.
- Explains that offenses can increase from misdemeanor to third-degree felony, with a high severity.
- Explains that a parent or guardian who uses someone's personal information without their consent will be charged with second-degree felony.
- Explains that a forensic accountant must ensure the victim is able to recover the damage caused by the fraudster.
- Explains that because their client is a victim of identity theft, they would start by gathering the information they need to launch the investigation.
- Explains that an incident report would be created to explain why the forensic accountant is investigating the identity theft.
- Explains that observing the fraudster will help the forensic accountant have proof of who is due.
- Opines that a forensic accountant can use the fraudster's video observation to build stronger interviews.
- Explains that as a forensic accountant, the next steps to assist the victim would be the loss recovery process.
1631 wordsRead More - The Different Types Of Identity Aft: Identity Theftexplanatory essayIdentity Theft There are many different types of white collar crime this day in age, but few white collar crimes are as damaging as identity theft. To begin identity theft as defined by Michael Flax (2005) is when someone else obtains and uses your personally identifying information without consent or knowledge to obtain credit cards, wireless phones, loans or mortgages, get a job, or otherwise commit fraudulent or criminal acts in your name, leaving you responsible for the consequences. According to Michael Flax (2005) identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States in 2005 costing victims annually over $5 billion dollars. The topic of identity theft is not small so I will be breaking it down into three major sections.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the united states in 2005 costing victims annually over $5 billion dollars.
- Explains identity theft in the 21st century as a plague of epic proportions on modern day society.
- Explains how the identity thief could take over existing accounts and open new bank accounts, credit accounts or in-store accounts under the victim's name. online shopping and mortgage fraud could also be used.
- Explains that medical fraud is when someone steals the information to obtain a medical card, or they steal the card to claim medical services under someone else’s name. immigration fraud is especially dangerous to the citizens of the united states.
- Explains that tax fraud occurs when people who have acquired a false identification use that same identification to file and receive someone else’s tax return.
- Explains that 3.7% of the population fell victim to identity theft in 2005, while 1.4% were victims of misuse of existing credit cards, and 1.8 million of new accounts opened or frauds committed.
- Explains that normal people don't make a conscious effort to secure their identity past keeping it in their wallet or purse. this makes people easier targets to exploit or steal from.
- Explains that physical theft techniques are the most prominent way identity thieves get someone's information. thieves will take advantage of a lost wallet, purse, checkbook, cellphone, laptops or credit card.
- Explains that mail theft is an easy way for an identity thief to get someone’s personal information.
- Explains that identity thieves use a skimmer to copy information from credit or debit cards and create their own cards. insider theft occurs when someone in an organization is stealing and selling people's personal information, or they are
- Explains that phishing is when someone attempts to acquire pertinent information by pretending to be a trustworthy third party. they use emails, facebook, linkedin, myspace, and other social media outlets to steal or gather personal information.
1453 wordsRead More - Identity Theft and Possible Risk in Technologyexplanatory essayIdentity Theft and Possible Risk in Technology Identity theft has been a major issue of privacy and fraud. In the data breach analysis from the Identity Theft Resource Center (2013), the number of data breaches from the year 2005 to 2012 increased. In 2012, there had been 49% where the data breach exposed people Social Security Number. The data breach of 2012 has a rate of 27.4% caused by hackers.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that identity theft has been a major issue of privacy and fraud. the data breach analysis from the identity theft resource center shows that the number of data breaches increased from 2005 to 2012.
- Explains that phishing is the most common type of identity theft technique. it uses technology and social engineering to mask their identity to make it a believable web site.
- Explains that pharming uses combinations of farming and phishing together. one mechanism is altering the file on the victim’s computer by using some sort of virus.
- Opines that as technology continues to grow and advance, so will identity theft. emails and social networking have its own flaws that identity thieves can exploit to steal personal information.
- Opines that identity theft is something that has been around for some time and it will not be gone anytime in the future.
- Explains identity theft is a term used for describing criminals that use individual’s identity without consent. cyber-identity theft involves the misuse of online or internet identity tokens.
- Explains the three most common types of identity theft: tax-related, child, and medical. in the united states, 90% of the population could be identified by using three pieces of information.
- Explains that 90% of the u.s. population can be identified by using an individual’s birth date, gender, and postal code. with a sufficient amount of personal information, thieves can use the victim's name for fraud.
- Explains that identity thieves can steal our personal information through different means. identity theft can lead to damaging credit score, the repair cost of damage done, financial loss, medical and health benefit coverage, criminal record, and social security benefits.
- Explains that the yahoo recycled email plan brought forth many attentions to email users regarding privacy loss and possible identity theft.
1697 wordsRead More - Identity Theftexplanatory essayIn order to explain what Identity Theft is some terminology is needed. Identity in this scope is personal information that is used to identify an individual, such as an individual’s name, social security number, birthdate, etc. A person who steals someone else’s identity is called the victimizer, and the person whose identity was stolen is called the victim. Identity theft happens when a victimizer acts as someone else, the victim, uses the victim’s personal information and acts as the victim to set up accounts using the victim’s identity. Some of the account types used in identity theft are credit card accounts, bank accounts, utility accounts (water, gas, electric, etc.), hospital accounts, any type of personal account that could be created can be used in identity theft. Most times when identity theft is brought up all that is covered is ways victimizers can take your identity to incur the victim debt, but that is not the only case, you can also become a victim of identity theft in other ways. There are reports of people (victims) who have had their identity stolen on social media, a victimizer steals photos of the victim and uses their name to set up an account in the victim’s name, and uses their image to act as them. This form of identity theft can be damaging in different ways, as it can ruin the victim’s reputation. The most common form of identity theft is the type when the victimizer uses the victim’s identity to run up debt in the victim’s name/identity, which can be very damaging, not only does the victim have incurred debt from the victimizer, they may run into financial trouble by having their wages garnished, and other such problems that cause them to get behind on their normal bills. Identity theft can ruin the vict...
In this essay, the author
- Explains that identity theft is personal information that is used to identify an individual, such as name, social security number, birthdate, etc. identity theft happens when a victimizer acts as someone else, the victim.
- Explains how victimizers can use scammers to steal the victim's identity. they may receive a phone call from the scammer who has spoofed, or in other words faked, the internal revenue service’s phone number.
- Explains how victimizers use phishing to steal a victim's identity. phishing is usually done via email.
- Opines that there are steps that can be taken to insure that it is harder for a victimizer.
- Explains how victimizers obtain their victims' personal information by calling the victim claiming to be a reputable organization seeking assistance for victims of natural disasters.
- Explains that there are steps that can be taken to limit how far a victimizer is able to go with their identity.
1407 wordsRead More