Personal Prevention of Identity Theft
Today in the United States there is a crime that every citizen faces having committed against them and that is the crime of identity theft. Identity theft is the theft of one's personal identifying information such as one's name, address, date of birth, credit card numbers, bank information, and most of all social security number (National Insurance Crime Bureau, 2000). With the modernization of our world it has became easier for would be identity thieves to commit their crime. There are many basic steps that one can do to help prevent themselves from becoming a victim of identity theft.
Identity theft is a growing business in the United States. It is now the most common form of consumer fraud. Last year more than 750,000 Americans were victims of identity theft, including such well known celebrities as Oprah Winfry and Tiger Woods (Martin, 2002). According to the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection, the majority of identity thefts still involve non-computer events that occur by criminals intercepting mail or taking information from carelessly discarded record that contain personal information. Once an identity thief has a victim's social security number, bank account numbers, or other types of personal information they are in business and can open up credit cards, take out bank loans, forge checks, or commit any number of other fraudulent scams that involve the use of a victim's personal information that allows the thief to gain some form of monetary reward (Martin, 2002).
One sees here that once a criminal obtains a victim's personal information that they have what they need to commit their crime and to reap the financial rewards of identity theft.
To saf...
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...ntity if they find too hard and will then move on to an easier victim.
References
Bruce, Laura. (2003). Guard Your Social Security Number. Retrieved November 4, 2003 from the World Wide Web: http: /www.bankrate.com/goocalh/news/advice 20020123b.asp?print=on
Del Grosso, Robert J. (2001). How to Avoid an Identity Crisis. Security Management.
Retrieved November 4, 2003 from Ebscohost from Academic Search Elite database.
Martin, Ray. (2002). Preventing Identity Theft. Retrieved November4, 2003 from the World Wide Web: http: //uttm.com/stories/2002/05/21/earlyshow/contributors/ray
martin/pritable509691.shtml
National Insurance Crime Bureau. (2000). Hold on to Your Good Name- Tips on Preventing Identity Theft. Retrieved November 4, 2003 from the World Wide Web: http: //www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m4PRN/2000_Oct_3/65713032/print.
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Identity theft is one of the most well known fraud and many people try to prevent it while fraudsters are looking for new ways to obtain it. The higher risk groups are college students and children. The main goal is to keep watch over your finances, credit score, bills, and passwords. Never let anyone know too much of your personal things. Families are usually scammed by other family members because they know where everything in that household is. You have to watch who you trust and it is sad. Not a day goes by when someone’s identity isn’t stolen. You can’t prevent all frauds but you can try your best to. Learn the warning signs to different types of fraud and find out solutions to keep yourself, your business, and your family financially, emotionally, and physically safe.
Consequently, many people believe identity theft will never happen to them. If someone is not aware of how serious identity theft can be, they can make mistakes that make them vulnerable to identity theft. There are, however, three very important ways to prevent identity theft from occurring. By keeping financial papers secure, keeping track of who you’re giving your personal and financial information, and protect online information as well.
In modern days, there is a type of crime that is growing very fast. It has become a very popular crime because it’s easily done, and it doesn’t leave a big trace, whether the crime is successful or not. The crime in question is Identity theft. Identity theft is a crime that involves a person or group pretending to be someone else for their own personal wants. The criminals use personal financial information such as social security number, bank and card information, your address and other personal information. According to the Insurance Information Institute, 15.4 million U.S. consumers have been victim to this crime, amounting to a loss of $16 billion, making it the most growing crime
Each year around 15 million United States residents are affected by Identity Theft. This causes financial losses of around $50 billion per year. The average amount of money stolen per victim is $4950! That is a lot of money that is just taken from people with little things they can do to affect their identity from being stolen. The most common age group for Identity Theft is 18-24. The 18-24 age groups hold over 20% of all Identities stolen. Did you know that around 6% of adults are affected by Identity Theft? People who steal other peoples Identities are just really rude. Most people work very hard to earn their money and when it gets stolen from them it is just wrong. According to statistic brain the Identity Theft fraud rate is growing very slowly each year, but it needs to be stopped completely.
The author answers many difficult questions that a person may have while learning about this issue. She warns her audience about the time consuming recovery process, saying how there are, “400 steps you have to do,” and goes on to say, “You’re just on your own.” It is hard for many victims to get the help they desperately need, since law enforcement simply does not have the time to investigate all of the numerous identity theft cases. Shin provides great advice for people who suspect they are dealing with an identity theft criminal and says to, “Take meticulous notes: the date, who you talked to, what they said. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to refer back to my notes.” She explains how taking notes can help the victim take control of the situation and stay ahead of the criminal. Although it may seem like the world is coming to an end, Shin explains how it only takes one mistake for the criminal to blow their whole cover. She says, ”And when she signed up for a utility or phone, she used her name. Since it was linked to my Social Security Number, it updated it with fraudulent information.” Although these life ruining people are criminals, they are still just normal people who make mistakes and will end up being
Today Identity Theft is the fastest growing crime in the United States. The Federal Trade Commission, identity theft victim complaint database currently contains more than three hundred thousand complaints. American consumers reported losing over one billion dollars to fraud overall in 2014, according to the Federal Trader Commissions annual report on consumer complaints released earlier this year, with the average cost ranging between five hundred dollars to two thousand dollars per victim (Federal Trade Commission, 2014). According to the 2011 Identity Fraud Survey Report, approximately eight million adults in the United States were victims of identity theft with the total cost of thirty seven billion dollars (Britz, 2013). The Federal Trade commission strongly urges people to take action in protecting themselves from Identity Theft because everyone is at risk of this rapidly growing crime no matter your age, race, gender or current financial situation. Identity Theft when a illegitimate person gains access to your personal information, such as your Social Security number, credit card account information, your mother's maiden name, your driver's license number, and other important information to impersonate someone. When the criminal has gained the information they need, they have the ability opens credit accounts, cellphone accounts, and other types of credit based accounts in your name. In addition once a person’s information is stolen the criminal then has the ability to access current accounts that is possessed, leading to even further damage to personal finance and credit.
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...
There are many things that officials must consider doing that would help prevent identity theft. For instance, provide a law enforcement response to high tech crime complaints 24 hours a day seven days a week. Knowledge, resources, and training should be shared among local law enforcement investigate agencies to prosecute Internet crime more effectively. Funding for a computer forensics lab, which will be essential for investigating and prosecuting Internet crimes, should be made available to legislation and should be enacted to help prosecute on-line crime. Finally, sentencing of this crime must also be put into perspective. One third of all identity theft offenders don?t even get sent to prison, and those who do, don?t even get lengthy terms. Representatives need to come up with legislation that would prosecute and fairly sentence criminals charged with identity theft because this crime surely is a victim?s crime. And remember, identity theft could happen to anyone, even to you.
Identity theft is a serious crime where a thief obtains your personal information, such as your social security number, to commit fraud. Identity theft has become a growing issue in today 's society, especially with today 's advanced technology. Research done by Javelin strategy concludes that nearly 12 million Americans have been victims of identity theft in 2011. The statistics of identity theft show an increase of thirteen percent over 2010. The numbers are increasingly growing as the years go by. Approximately seven percent of adults have their identity stolen, resulting in at least $3,500 in losses. Identity thieves develop cagey methods to steal identities like stealing wallets, mail, and phone calls that lure people into giving out their
Driscoll, Sally. English, Marlanda. "Identity Theft: An Overview." Points of View: Identity Theft (2013): 1. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.
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.
Saleh, Z. (2013). The impact of identity theft on perceived. Journal of Internet Banking & Commerce, 18(2), 1-11. Retrieved from http://www.arraydev.com/commerce/jibc/
Identity theft is a non ethical criminal offence. It is when someone gathers someone’s personal information and uses it against them. Fraudsters usually get a hold of personal information using three methods: information given away, offline methods and online methods. People commit this crime for many different reasons, but they all have one common goal of using some else’s identity to their advantage. There are many different type of identity thefts, which are categorized on what the criminal is using the identity for. Having said all of this, identity is a crime that can cause a lot of finical and reputation damage to the victim and that is why it is important to prevent it. Identity theft can be prevented if everybody knows exactly what it is and what they can do to keep their identity safe.
"Identity Theft and Your Financial Life." Daily Record [Baltimore] 23 Aug. 2004, Special to the Daily Record ed.: n. pag. eLibrary. Web. 6 July 2011.
America,” (Weidenfeld 1). Being the number one crime, identity theft is very dangerous. If your