Introduction Every day as you enter information online or over the phone. You should wonder about where this information goes who could intercept it and what they can do with it. Identity theft is something that happens often, mostly due to a careless individual with his or her personal information. A lot of people think that it could never happen to them and that they don’t make enough money to become a target, but the truth is you can and it will happen to you unless you take certain steps to protect yourself and your information when using the internet or talking on the phone. What is identity theft?
Identity theft is when someone you may have never met or maybe someone you know that has been keeping an eye on you waiting to steal your
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A quote by Sara scorcher states “Victims rarely know anything about their predators. Yet the thieves know everything about them” (scorcher).
What are the types of identity thief? There are eight types of identity theft. Financial which is data breaches, in which the thieves hacked a company and obtained tons of consumer records. There is insurance which is classified as a new type, it must be addressed independently than other types of identity theft. Medical identity theft which is said to be the most dangerous and hardest to fix. As stated by the world health organization. “Medical identity theft the information crime that can kill you.” (World health) Medical identity theft occurs when someone uses a person’s name and sometimes other parts of their identity — such as insurance information — without the person’s knowledge or consent to obtain medical services or goods, or uses the person’s identity information to make false claims for medical services or goods. Medical identity theft frequently results in erroneous entries being put into
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Sampson “A first-ever review of Secret Service files has found that only half of the cases of identity theft involved technological devices, such as computers, scanners and digital cameras, and only 10 percent were done exclusively through the Internet.” (Sampson) in a recent study Researchers from Utica College's Center for Identity Management and Information Protection in New York analyzed 517 closed Secret Service cases of ID theft from 2000 to 2006. It was the first study of such files from the federal agency, which is responsible for investigating identity theft and fraud. Among their findings a fifth of the time the thieves stole personal data from the workplace. Of them 60 percent worked in retail, car dealerships, gas stations, casinos, restaurants, hotels, hospitals and doctor offices. 22 percent worked for financial services, such as banks and credit card companies, and 9 percent where in the government. (Sampson) there are many ways that thieves obtain your personal information, most common is you giving it to them yourself, or miss placing documents with the information on it. Anything with your date of birth, social security number, name, and address on it, is the Holy Grail to an identity thief. Most online thief happens under false pretenses called phishing which is phony emails claiming you have a distant relative that has passed away and has left you a huge sum of money, this email will then ask you to send some type of check or proof
Identity theft is a major concern today in our country, millions of a person’s identity have been compromised for many of years. Identity theft occurs when someone uses another person’s personal information such as name, Social Security number, driver’s license number, credit card number, or other identifying information to take on that person’s identity in order to commit fraud or other crimes. Stealing an identity is, unfortunately, surprisingly easy to do and happens when you least expect it. Just by opening your mail, something that has personal information on it, throwing it in the trash. Therefore, a person can go through your trash and take all that information and use it against you to take on a new identity.
Becoming the victim of identity theft is never something that is a pleasant experience. Along with the fear regarding the actual event, there is also the aftermath that must be considered. It can sometimes take years to completely see the full effects of identity theft, but by learning more about the different types, it is much easier to get started making repairs.
Identity theft is when someone, without the consent of the owner, dishonestly uses, or intends to fraudulently use another individual’s personal identity. Personal identifying information can consist of an individual’s name, date of birth, driver’s license number, mother’s maiden name, state identification number, telephone number and other personal information that
In American society, there a fast growing white-collar crime that is becoming more and more popular among criminals. This white collar crime is call identity theft. Thousands of people have their identities stolen every year. Identity theft happen when criminals get a hold and use other people persona information such as credit card numbers, bank accounts numbers, insurance information and social security number to purchase good and other services fraudulently. More than 9 million American are victimizes by identity theft each year. With this number being so high it is evident that identity theft is one of the fast- growing crimes to hit the United State. Three reason why identify theft if being such a fast- growing crime in the United State is because more people credit card information is being stolen, more people are shopping online and more medical information is being stolen.
Identity theft has been a problem facing police departments recently. It is a crime in which someone obtains and uses another person's personal information in a way that involves fraud. In the United States and Canada, for example, many people have reported that unauthorized people have taken money out of their bank. In 1998 Congress made identity theft a federal offense to therefore create stricter penalties for these criminals.
Therefore, when someone uses your personal information to obtain identification, credit or even a mortgage, you become a victim of identity theft. This crime is devastating to a victim’s credit score and peace of mind.
Identity theft is a fast growing white-collar crime that is gaining the notoriety of an epidemic. There is a wealth of information on identity theft and prevention yet this area of crime is developing rapidly and is shrouded in myths.
Identity theft involves gathering valuable information retaining to an individual in order to make a financial gain out of the process. This’ll usually involve the attacker having to open a bank account in the victim’s name and ask for a new credit card for the account. They can then withdraw as much money as they please from the account before the victim can do anything. In 2014, 47% of American adults had their personal information stolen by hackers making identity theft the largest cybercrime to date. According to the U.S Justice Department, every 3 seconds someone becomes a victim of identity theft. Over $18 billion had been stolen as a result. Identity theft comes from hackers or scammers either convincing victims into giving up personal
The first thing is, what identity theft is. Identity theft is a term that is used to refer to
Identity theft is when someone other than you, steals your personal information for illegal gains while pretending to be you. Thus, using someone else’s identity can seriously affect someone’s lively hood, business, job opportunities, and reputation,
In the time that it takes to read my speech, 38 to 57 people will have become victims of identity theft. According to usa.gov, identity theft is a crime where a thief steals your personal information to commit fraud. Common types of personal Id that are involved are medical, social, and tax identification. Identity thieves can use identity related documents for many different reasons which can cause some very stressful reactions, but it is
Identity theft is the fastest growing fraud crime in America (Finklea, 2009). Gaining knowledge in preventing theft will better the economy and lower the crime rates in America. There are reported 9.9 million victims of identity theft and this number is increasing rapidly as the years go on. It has been reported that an estimate of fifty billion dollars has been charged to our consumers every year due to identity theft (Finklea, 2009).
Identity theft is on the rise in the United States and Globally. The Federal Trade Commission advised that there are about nine million cases of identity theft. People who had their identity stolen often feel like they were violated. Any individual can have their identity compromised in numerous ways. Different institutions store personal information. There are several organizations that have social security numbers, bank account numbers, and credit card numbers. Colleges and Universities have people personal information stored in their databases that could be hacked. There are several companies that offer options to people to protect their identity. Most credit card companies offer the option of identity
Identity theft affects millions of Americans every day. Scam artists and hackers lay in wait for an unsuspecting person to get caught up their scheme through ignorance or naivety so they can take full advantage of their personal information to do as they desire with it. Problem is, it infiltrates and depreciates the integral infrastructure of our society which creates a cultural lapse through the declination of economic and cultural growth and double jeopardizes an already unstable system to the brink of its destruction. To understand how
The United States Department of Justice defines Identity Theft and Fraud 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” (U.S. Department of Justice, 2012). An individual’s personal data such as: Social Security number, bank account information, credit card numbers, or telephone calling card number¬ may be used by criminals to personally profit at your expense. In many cases, a victim's loss not only includes out-of-pocket financial losses, but substantial additional financial costs and time repairing and correcting credit histories and erroneous information. To assist with my research for this paper, I chose two books written from different perspectives. First, I sought out a book to provide a comprehensive review of identity theft history; methods used to steal identities, consequences of having your identity stolen, and prevention techniques from an individual or business perspective. Next, after developing a strong baseline on identity theft, I searched for a reference book which offers a comprehensive review of the concepts of computer crimes, relevant laws, and methods practiced by investigators to trace, capture and persecute identity theft