Social Networing Sites: Befriending Identity Theft

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Recommended: The impact of online identity theft

Social networking sites are increasingly becoming one of the internet most utilized activities. However, how often does one think that their Facebook site is hazardous to their identity. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, an estimated 11.7 million Americans were victims of identity theft in 2010 (U.S. Dept. of Justice). Identity theft is defined as a crime where someone illegally acquires and utilizes another person’s vital information to deceive for personal gain. That same year, the Federal Trade Commission reported that identity theft crimes cost businesses and individuals an estimated $53 billion (Federal Trade Commission). Most Americans are familiar with identity theft but aren’t well-informed about the influence it has on the economy in addition to individuals. If potential victims are better educated on how social networking sites put our identities at risk, the affects identity theft has on its victims, and ways to prevent identity theft from happening while using a social networking site.

Losing one’s private information can possibly be the worst thing to ever happen or, for some, the biggest act of carelessness displayed. The average person would probably panic and hope that no one is exploiting his or her misplaced information. Well social networking sites can cause just that without you even knowing it.

Although there are numerous ways an identity can be taken social networking seems to be the most effective. A report concerning the most common ways an individual’s identity can be stolen was completed by the Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business Bureau. This report states that although a lost or stolen wallet is the most common way, that happens more than 28.8% of the time, it isn’t the on...

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...ts to repel it.” Identity theft protection laws are limited, so take action and defend yourself.

Works Cited

Cornell University Law School. Legal Information Institute. 15 March 2011. http://www.law.cornell.edu/search/index.html

Hoffman, Sandra K. and Tracey G. Mc Ginely. Identity Theft: A Reference Book. Santa Barbra, California: ABG – CLIO, 2010

Identity Theft Assumption Deterrence Act. United States Federal Trade Commission. 30 Feb 2011. http://www.ftc.gov/os/statues/itada/itadact.htm

Identity Theft and Identity Fraud. The United States Department of Justice. 14 Feb 2011. http://www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/websites/ idtheft.html

Katel, Peter. "Identity Theft." CQ Researcher 10 June 2005: 517-40. Web. 15 Feb. 2011.

Lexis Nexis Academic & Library Solutions. 15 March 2011.

Vacca, John R. Identity Theft. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall PTR 2003

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