Identity Theft

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Identity Theft What is identity theft? By definition “Identity theft n. the dishonest acquisition of personal information in order to perpetrate fraud, typically by obtaining credit, loans, etc., in someone else's name; fraud perpetrated in this way. ” (dictionary.oed.com, 2007). It’s estimated that 9 million Americans have had their identities stolen each year. “According to the Secret Service, its investigations show a jump in potential losses due to identity theft, from $851 million in 1998 to $1.4 billion in 2000.” add citation from how stuff works There are many ways that thieve steal your identity, they may go through your trash, steal your wallet or purse. I will discuss a lot of the different ways in more detail. Per about.com dumpster diving. “Dumpster diving is when someone goes looking through other people’s trash for items that can be used or sold”. (Ledford) Dumpster diving in of itself is not a crime if the trash is in a public places, it only becomes a crime if the trash is considered concealed. Dumpster diving is more of a threat than most people realize. It’s easy for a theft to get your personal information if you throw it away. So Shred everything that has identifiable information about you. A phishing scam is when someone claims they are from a bank, wireless company or some company that would normally have your personal information. They have fake websites that look just like that company’s real website. They ask you to click on a link to update or missing or invalid information. Once you click on the link it takes you to their site and they gave and use your information. Here are some tips the FTC recommends to help prevent this from happening to you. If you receive one of these emails d... ... middle of paper ... ...eone else information when pull over and taken to jail. They are then release and then go on about their business and the person’s whose identity was stolen is held accountable. This individual may not be aware of this until they are perhaps pulled over in a traffic stop. The last form of identity theft I would like to discuss is identity cloning. This is when someone actually pretends to be someone else in order to elude law enforcement. They maybe a illegal immigrant looking for work in another country or they maybe someone running from police in another state who has committed a crime. In conclusion, it is easy to have your identity stolen but I could be very difficult to clean up the damaged caused by someone stealing it. So please be carefully and safeguard all of your personal information if you have to provide this information only give what is needed.

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