...Identity Theft James Middleton AIU Online Abstract In this paper we will discuss identity theft. What is identity theft, what are some of the more common ways that people have become victims to identity theft? We will discuss how the law has changed and what the law has accomplished. Also how the law now protects the victim. Identity Theft What is identity theft; which is often referred to as identity fraud, which refers to all types id crime involving someone wrongfully obtain and uses another person’s personal data in some way that involves deception (findlaw.com, n.d.). By definition of the Identity Theft & Assumption Deterrence Act (ITAD) of 1998, specified that it is a federal crime to knowing transfer or use without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person with the intent to commit, or to aid or abed any unlawful activity that constitutes a violation of Federal law, or constitutes a felony under any applicable state or local law (OVC, 2010). If a person steals another person’s identity but does not cause any monetary damage has a crime been committed? I would have to say yes, based on the definition of the ITAD Act. You transfer or use another person’s identity with the intent to commit a crime and you are caught; yes it is a crime. The most common ways to commit identity theft, is either to listen to someone’s conversation while they are giving out a credit card number over the phone, by “dumpster diving” when they can obtain...
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...Identity Theft Abstract This research paper will examine what is known about identity theft. The paper begins with defining the crime and its background, followed by a review of the patterns and incidences of identity theft. This review will include data on the extent and costs of this crime. Discussion will then focus on victims and perpetrators of identity theft. Common techniques used by identity thieves will be explored along with tips to protect consumers and businesses from having their identities stolen or data breached. Legislation in place to prevent and prosecute identity theft will be discussed. How to report identity theft is also explained. Defining Identity Theft The U.S. Department of Justice defines identity theft, also called identity fraud, as “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, 2015). Identity thieves use personal data such as Social Security numbers, bank account or credit card numbers to personally profit at the victim’s expense. These breaches allow thieves to take funds out of bank accounts or in the worst cases, take over a victim’s identity completely, running up huge debts and committing crimes using the victim’s name. Victims not only suffer the out-of-pocket financial losses, but they may have to rebuild their reputation in the community due...
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...IDENTITY THEFT PENALTY ENHANCEMENT ACT Name Course School Date Introduction The Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act is an amendment to Title 18 of the United States Code. The Act was brought in to define and establish penalties for aggravated identity theft. It is also an enhancement of the definitions of identity theft found in the provisions of Title 18 (Congress.gov, 2004) (Finklea, 2014). Identity theft is an issue that has affected the nation for many years. Advances in technology have made it possible for many people to have access to the tools and resources needed to forge documents which are a critical part of identity theft. The most common form of identity theft is associated with credit card fraud. Credit card fraud on the internet has substantially increased due to the opportunities present in the Internet environment. However, this represents some of the simplest forms of identity fraud. Such is the case since it is very easy to discover credit card fraud by both the credit card company and the victim as well. However, according to the Federal Trade Commission (2002), other forms of identity theft are more severe since they take a longer time to materialize (Federal Trade Commission, 2002) This view is also by Finklea (2014) in his article where he points out the issues and trends of identity theft. The Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act comes in the context of increased awareness of the difficulties posed by emergent technologies. So far, identity...
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...Abstract The Federal Trade Commission considers identity theft to be the fastest growing crime in the country. The Internet has become a hot zone for attracting identity theft thieves to steal personal information. Identity theft is divided into four basic areas – financial identity theft, criminal identity theft, identity cloning and business and commercial identity theft. Criminals obtain our personal information through methods such as using an insider, dumpster diving, computer hacking, war driving, phishing and pre-texting. The Department of Justice prosecutes identity theft under federal statutes. Congress passed the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act, Title 18 United States Code 1028 in 1998. One of the most noted identity theft cases was USA v. Cummings. The largest hacking and identity theft case ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice involved eleven people who stole more than forty million credit and debit card numbers. To severely curtail on identity theft, President Bush mandated Executive Order 13402 called the Identity Theft Task Force. Identity theft causes immeasurable damage to peoples’ names and reputations. Greater awareness and education will help us to combat identity theft. Identity Theft It’s a nightmare that can leave an unsuspecting person feeling violated and vulnerable. It doesn’t care who you are or where you live. Gender, race and age are totally irrelevant. In this modern technological age, it is a crime that can realistically...
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...stringent laws and hard work of excellent law enforcement agencies the rate of crime can always be controlled. For example the crime rate in the New York City went down considerably in the beginning of this decade, with the introduction of new policies by the new government. There is one type of crime, which has consistently grown every year in the last decade, and also has been the fastest growing crime. It is a neither gun crimes nor the use and abuse of certain drug; it is identity theft. When searched for fastest growing crime on google.com the unanimous answer turned out to be identity theft. This crime basically proves that there is no doubt in the fact that there is something going wrong when dealing with identity theft. It seems like there is a piece of the puzzle which is missing. The main focus of this paper is to put some light on the issues concerning with identity theft, how it takes place in various manners and what are the current laws in place to act against identity theft. The role of credit card companies to deal with identity theft is also mentioned. Identity theft and identity fraud are words used to refer to all degrees of crime in which someone wrong fully acquires and exploit individual private information in numerous ways that engage scam or trickery, usually for financial gains. According to two studies done in July 2005 by Gartner research and Harris interactive, approximately seven million people became victims of identity theft in the year...
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...Ashley Mayes Criminal Law Essay 3 23 February 2014 Ashley Mayes Criminal Law Essay 3 23 February 2014 Crimes against Property: Larceny Crimes against Property: Larceny Crime against property means a crime that destroys or deprives an owner of property against the owner's will. These crimes are considered less serious than violent crimes, or crimes against persons. Crimes against property are not as obvious as they sound. Although they deal with damage or theft of physical property, sometimes they also involve harm or threat to individuals. When people are involved, the penalties for crimes against property can increase a great deal. The crime I am going to specifically talk about is larceny. I will discuss the physical properties of it, the statutes in the state of Ohio, and the common law definition of larceny. Larceny is a crime against property, and is a form of theft. It is the” unlawful taking, and carrying away of another’s tangible personal property with intent to deprive the rightful owner of the same. “It is also considered a crime against possession. The taking element requires that the offender take actual physical control of the property without the consent of the owner. If the offender merely deprives the victim of possession, it is not larceny. The offender must have gained control over the property and that control must be complete. The offender must have taken the property with the intent to steal it. And the intention required is one intended...
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...Theft is a complex crime requiring the assessment of five separate components before a conviction can be obtained. In 1968, the Theft Act 1968 was passed. This Act was a new code that swept away the pervious law in the Larceny Act 1916 creating a new range of offences which were framed to avoid the technicality and complexity of the old law. In 1978, the Theft Act 1978 was passed to replace s16 (2)(a) of the Theft Act 1968 which had proved highly unsatisfactory. The Theft Act 1978 also contains other provisions to fill some gaps left by the previous Act. The Theft Acts 1968 and 1978 created a range of offences that contains the common element that the proscribed consequence is brought about as a result of the accused’s dishonest deception....
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...Project on theft - Section 378 of IPC INTRODUCTION In common usage, theft is the taking of another person's property without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word is also used as an informal shorthand term for some crimes against property, such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, shoplifting and fraud. In some jurisdictions, theft is considered to be synonymous with larceny; in others, theft has replaced larceny. For the offence of theft there is punishment of imprisonment of either description which may extend to 3 years, with fine, or both according to the Indian Penal Code. The offence of theft is even though cognizable [1] and non-bailable [2] it is compoundable[3]. So according to the criminal justice jurisprudence when the offence is compoundable then generally it cannot be term as serious category of an offence. Otherwise also the seriousness and gravity of an offence can be assessed by the fact and circumstances involve in any incidence of crime. Every citizen in a free country is having right to do fair, law based analysis of any judgment given by any courts in India without challenging the integrity of the person working as judge. According to SECTION 378 OF INDIAN PENAL CODE, Whoever, intending to take dishonestly any moveable property out of the possession of any person without that person’s consent, moves that property in order to such taking, is said to commit theft. OBJECTIVE ...
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...Christina Harrington LS308 Law & Society Unit 3 Assignment Professor Jeffrey Gulley February 24, 2015 Family of Law | Countries where type of law is dominant | Characteristics | How Disputes are Settled | How Cases are Handled. | Common Law | Great Britain | * Reliance on case law make precedence * Adversary system * Jury plays a more prominent role * Judicial Review | * Trial by jury * Legal representation is provided to assure equal protection under the law * Sentences are based upon guidelines | * Cases are tried before Magistrate and jurors * Tried under an indictment or summary conviction * The Crown bears the responsibility for proof beyond a reasonable doubt * Magistrates referees the proceedings | Civil Law | France | * Rely on written detailed codes of law * Judges have less power than those in Common Law * Judges only interpret the legal codes * Judges are expected to follow a series of decisions that agree on the interpretation of a code provision * Judges are restricted by the provisions of the written law | * All crimes are brought before the instructing judge prior to court hearings * The judge controls the coordination of the investigation including gathering facts, preparing it for trial and questioning witnesses * The judge rules on the case based upon the codified laws. | * Cases are brought by the public prosecutor’s office to the instructing judge prior to any court hearing * Instructing judge’s...
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.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Uniform Crime Reports UCR Program from the FBI collects information on crimes reported to law enforcement authorities such as murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. The this data is compiled from monthly law enforcement reports made directly to the FBI or to centralized state agencies that then report to the FBI. Each report submitted to the UCR Program is examined for reasonableness, accuracy, and deviations that may indicate errors. Any variations in crime levels may indicate modified records procedures, incomplete reporting, or changes in a jurisdiction's boundaries. To identify any unusual anomalies in an agency's crime counts, monthly reports are compared with previous submissions of the agency and with those for similar agencies.This report also includes detailed data on crimes cleared, persons arrested for a wide range of crimes, law enforcement personnel, and the characteristics of homicides such as age, sex, race of victims, and circumstances surrounding the homicides. The UCR presents crime counts for the Nation as a whole, as well as for regions, states, counties, cities, towns, tribal law enforcement, and colleges and universities. National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is created by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and provides a detailed picture of crime incidents...
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...not compensated? There are many New Orleanians who have experienced this. This is called wage theft. Wage theft is a crime that seems to be recurring, and it occurs when you are not paid properly for doing a job: it can be from not being paid for working late, not being paid at all, or not being paid the minimum amount per hour you are supposed to be paid. The widespread problems of wage theft in New Orleans should be minimized by amending the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA). Wage theft has been inconspicuous, but it came to light post-Katrina, and has become a tremendous problem. Countless...
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...dropped the phone, after his shock, he picked up the phone and explained that he never purchased anything from them, and she asked if he was who he said was, he said yes. The lady commanded him to pay the money as soon as possible or she would involve the police. Peter realized that he may have identity theft, and with that thought he never went back to sleep. "Identity theft occurs when an unauthorized person obtains another's name and a piece of critical identifying information about that person such as a credit card or bank account number, social security number or driver's license number. With these two pieces of information, someone can open credit card accounts in someone else's name and go on spending sprees for personal items or for things that can easily be sold. When bills are not paid, the delinquent account shows up on that person's credit report. The identity thief can change the mailing address on the victim's credit card account thus delaying the discovery of the theft. The imposter then runs up big bills on the victim's account, and since they are being sent to the new address, one would have no way of knowing any of this was going on” ( Poster, 119). Identity theft is one of the biggest and most costly crimes committed today. Every second of the day someone’s identity is stolen. This often results in a person losing almost everything including their most valuable asset, their name. However, who pays for all of the transactions and purchases? Who is the actual...
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...Identity Theft David Arcila Professor Jim Manning White Collar Crime 08/14/13 “But he that filches from me my good name, robs me of that which not enriches him, and makes me poor indeed.” – Shakespeare, Othello, act III. Sc. 3. “Once in a time before identity theft was a federal crime, there was a particular case where a convicted felon stole more than $100,000 of credit card debt, motorcycles, federal home loans, houses, and handguns in the victim’s name.” (Knox, Jeffrey) “He also called his victim to taunt him and let him know that he could do this as long as he wanted to because identity theft was not a federal offense yet.” (Knox, Jeffrey) “Both the victim and his wife spent more than four years and more than $15,000 trying to repair their reputation and credit.” (Knox, Jeffrey) “As for the criminal, the offender served a small prison sentence for trying to buy the firearm but other than that made no repayments to the couple for the damage he caused.” (Knox, Jeffrey) “This was one of the many cases that made Congress decide to implement a new federal law in 1998 against identity theft.” (Knox, Jeffrey) Identity theft is a type of crime where someone’s identity is stolen in order to pretend to be the victim’s identity. “Many times the offender obtains valuable resources such as credit card and debit card information or social security numbers in order to gain economic through deception or fraud...
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...Criminal Law and Cyber Crimes Sara Bakerink Kaplan University LS311-03RP1 In law there can be different classifications of the same crime, theft for example. The classifications vary state to state as the section code is based on the state. For example in Iowa we do not have a state section code for Larceny. Robbery can be found under 711.1 and burglary can be found under 713.1. However, in other states larceny is listed in the state section code. For this assignment in Unit 3 there are three situations that involve Makoto's laptop computer being stolen. How the theft occurs is the factor that determines the type of crime that is committed. The classifications of theft crimes are larceny, robbery, or burglary. In situation one Sarah sees a laptop unattended on a porch and steals it. Sarah proceeds to show everyone the laptop calling it her own. This type of theft is known as larceny which is a property crime. Larceny is "the unlawful taking and carrying away of someone else's personal property with the intent to permanently deprive the owner of possession." (Miller & Jentz, 2008, p.128) "Note that a person who commits larceny generally can also be sued under tort law because the act of taking possession of another's property involves a trespass to personal property." (Miller & Jentz, 2008, p.128) In situation two Sarah sees Makoto outside with a laptop computer. Sarah holds Makoto at gunpoint and steals Makoto's computer...
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...COURT CASE BRIEF Donald R. Schroerlucke, And Joyce D. Schroerlucke V United States 2011WL 4440599 (Fed.Cl) No. 09-772T FACTS Plaintiff Donald Schroerlucke is a former employee of WorldCom, Inc. His wife is Joyce D. Schroerlucke. In 1989, Mr. Schroerlucke was employed as Vice President of Operations at Long Distance Discount Services, Inc., the predecessor corporation to WorldCom. Pursuant to stock option agreements with Long Distance Discount Services, Inc., and then with WorldCom, Mr. Schroerlucke accumulated employee stock option grants between July 1991 and January 1998. His employment with WorldCom ended on January 4, 1999. According to the terms of the stock option agreements and an April 7, 1998 memorandum titled, “WorldCom Employee Stock Option Program,” Mr. Schroerlucke was required to immediately exercise all of his employee stock options at the end of his employment. On January 2, 1998, Mr. Schroerlucke had accumulated 172,492 WorldCom stock options. Mr. Schroerlucke exercised all of his existing stock options on February 12, 1999, at which time the market value of his 172,492 WorldCom shares was $13,702,333.25, based on the $79.4375 per share, February 12, 1999, closing price of WorldCom stock.1. According to the criminal Mr. Ebbers (CEO) and Mr. Sullivan (CFO Scott Sullivan) presented a “materially false and misleading picture of WorldCom’s operating performance and financial results” as part of a “scheme to deceive” and “inflate and maintain artificially...
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