...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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...internet became universal, identity theft became a huge problem as more and more information, private or public, are becoming available online. People gain access to other people’s information more easily and therefore the information can be used in personally and industrially by third parties without the owner's’ actual consent or knowledge. This is identity theft. These information may include the owner’s name, age, sex, appearance, phone number, email address, home address, username and password for accounts, the school they attended, hobbies and other activities they involved in. These information, if shared, may result in the host getting spammed, scammed and other risks that may harm them physically or mentally. Signs that...
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...Abstract This paper discusses identity theft in terms of its impact, its character and its prevention. In the paper, particular attention is given to the types of primary identity theft classifications, some online methodologies of identity theft and finally, some preventive measures. The paper discusses how identity theft is found to be a massive problem in terms of financial losses to both corporations and individuals and is expected to grow in severity over the next few years. From the Paper "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." Abstract The paper discusses the growing issue of identity theft through a case study. Due to the subject's fear of telling his wife what had happened, especially so he should not lose...
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... Always monitor the bank statement and etc. Checking the mail for missing account statements is another way to protect from identity theft and fraud. If someone going on vacation that person should ask the post office to hold all their mail until that person came back, to prevent identity theft and frauds. People should invest in a shredder to shred unwanted information. Use a secure website to access information, never enclose personal information by the phone. Check bank statement and credit card statement very careful each month to see any unwanted purchase. If that person sees any unwanted purchase notices their credit card immediately. Thesis: One day you receive a call from your bank, stating you had just made a purchase for a random estimate of 5,000 dollars. But you did not go on a shopping spree. Your identity just has stolen. How secure is your identity? Do you ever wonder about your identity? Ways to prevent/protect yourself from identity theft and frauds. I. One thing you should be aware about is your bank account. A. Once your ATM has been compromises change your pin right away. B. Get new ATM cards if it has been compromised. C. Contact the bank if you see any suspense in your bank account. I. Another way is keeping your social security secure in a safe. A. Do not write your Social Security card piece of paper. B. Do not give out your personal information to strangers. II. Monitoring your Credit Card Statements A. Check...
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...months later, when Bob was applying for a car loan, he found that his credit history had been destroyed. He was a victim of identity theft, a crime that often causes people debt, unjustified imprisonment, and murder, being one of the most dangerous, yet easiest, crimes to commit. Identity theft includes other types of fraud and identity related crimes. It is said that today’s society is now living in “The Age of Betrayal.” Since an incident with a busboy in Brooklyn, no one can be trusted anymore. After siphoning off hundreds of thousands of dollars into different accounts, this busboy still stayed a bus boy because he did not want to be caught stealing others’ identities caught. When webcams shot up in the worldwide community, “self-documenters” have broken up with there loved ones and other personal related extremes have happened to others (Vacca 12-13). A person’s privacy is almost non-existent. Information like phone numbers, home addresses, social security numbers, bank accounts, etc., are available to just about anyone who is interested in looking or taking them (Hyatt 2-3). There have been various ways of stealing a person’s identity throughout history. It is said that “Shoulder Surfing” was started in airports, train stations, and bus stations. Thieves record credit card numbers of victims who were using public phones. When an identity thief tries to steal some numbers or something personal that he needs, he does not need to be near the victim at all. These...
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...next. Credit card fraud is a common form of identity theft. The cards that were stolen will get used quickly, usually for a few large purchases, or several small ones. Most credit card companies are wise to this, and watch for "unusual buying patterns," but don't count on that. Let them know as soon as you hang up with your bank. Make a report with your local police department. Get the report number, and a hard copy of the report. Every company you work with to fix an identity theft issue will want a copy of this, so make several. Always keep the original. Contact your insurance agent. Most homeowner's policies have some sort of identity theft coverage. This would be a great time to find out what it covers. The Federal Trade Commission published a brochure in 2008. It warned consumers to be careful what they buy. They said most identity theft products don't really do anything you can't do yourself for free. Contact the Federal Trade Commission (1-877-IDTHEFT). The FTC collects information about identity theft for studies and analysis. They may send you a copy of Take Charge: Fighting Back Against Identity Theft, a booklet to help victims recover. Call your other card issuers. Call the library if you had a library card. Call Blockbusters if you had a movie rental card. Call your car rental company, campus security, Victoria's Secret, everybody who gave you some sort of credit or ID card...even those shopper/savings cards. Identity thieves have run up all sorts of bills in their...
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...Ayoub Elmahi NT1110 Research Paper IDentity Theft Ms. Janine Aleong Thursdays 9AM Research Project: IDentity Theft History Much before the internet technology had gained popularity, identity theft was common in form of dumpster diving and going through your trash in case you have thrown away any personal identifying information such as bills or documents. But before that, identity theft was known as a white collar crime and it was pretty dangerous. This means that if the id thieves wanted to steal your identity they would just kill you for it and just assume you identity and walk away. Back in those days the thieves also used phone scams to gather information about you. For example, the identity thief would just call someone and say they had won a huge prize and that they needed their personal information such as social security number and date of birth to verify their identity. This information was quite sufficient for them to commit crimes and leave you under debts. However with the rise of the internet technology, identity theft has become a more common crime and even easier and safe to perform without being caught. The quick growth of id theft History of identity theft had suddenly taken a sharp turn at about the time free exchange of personal and financial information become common by the use of computer and electronic devices. Identity theft is today considered to be one of the fastest growing crimes throughout the world. This rapid growth is mainly because of...
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...Identity Theft + Fraud= Identity Crime 20 December 2007 There is a thief that lurks around us everyday; this thief can attack in brad day light or in the darkest hour, and just about anywhere you may find yourself. This thief has the power to act in your name, make unlimited purchases, open up credit accounts and ruin your good name and credit all in the matter of seconds; if you are vulnerable enough, you might become his next victim. In many cases all he needs is your name and a social security number, and he has enough information to make you his next victim; if you don’t believe me then ask the millions of Americans that became victim’s, or just ask me. The thief that I am talking about is identity theft. Identity theft is a crime that is affecting many Americans, the costs are well in the millions every year, but with a little bit of knowledge and adaptive common practices, you can help fight back and minimize your chances of becoming the next victim of Identity theft. Identity theft is as predictable as a giant storm; you really don’t know what the damage will be until it passes and many victims don’t even see it coming until its already too late. So what is identity theft? According to the webpage article “about identity theft,” the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (2007) writes that “identity theft occurs when someone uses your personal identifying information, like your name, SSN… without your permission to commit fraud or other crimes.” (para 1) All it takes...
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...Data Theft Paper Data Theft Paper Data theft is when information is unlawfully copied or taken from a business or individual. This information is user information such as passwords, social security numbers, credit card information, other personal information, and confidential corporate information. Within this paper several examples will be giving as, I explore how data theft has affected individuals and organizations. What can organizations and individuals do to protect them from becoming victims of this type of fraud. When stolen data happens such as people’s identities or an organization’s information the potential harm is huge with major economic and legal implications. The worst thing about the data theft is that it can remain undetected. It is devastating when you find out as a boss that an ex-employee has stolen the company information for personal gain, profit, or to ruining the company completely. A survey released by Information Week (informationweek.com) and Accenture in July 2007 showed that 89 percent of 1,010 U.S. companies still felt vulnerable to data theft (McNurlin, Sprague, & Bui, 2009). For example the Boeing Company had an ex-employee who illegally downloaded thousands of pages of significant business documents to his computer. It was anticipated if any of those documents had gotten into the wrong hands of Boeing’s competitors it could have cost them $5 to $14 billion dollars (McNurlin, Sprague, & Bui, 2009). In 2008, a data theft...
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...NT1110 Aug 26, 2013 Research Paper: Identity Theft Identity theft, also known as ID theft is a crime in which a criminal obtains key pieces of personal information, such as Social Security or driver's license numbers, in order to pretend to be someone else. The information can be used to obtain credit, merchandise, and services using the victims’ name. Identity theft can also provide a thief with false credentials for immigration or other applications. One of the biggest problems with identity theft is that very often the crimes committed by the identity theft expert are often credited to the victim. A thief could take out a mortgage in your name or commit a crime and pretend to be you when caught. Thieves can even use your personal information to apply for a job or use your medical insurance. Identity theft has become one of the world’s leading crimes in the world. Identity theft drastically increased in the year 2000 by nearly 52%, occurring every half second all across the world. There are two primary types of identity theft: ~Account takeover ~True name theft Account takeover identity theft refers to the type of situation where an imposter uses the stolen personal information to gain access to the person’s existing accounts. Often the identity thief will use the stolen identity to run up current credit lines, by changing your address so that you never see the credit card bills that the thief constantly runs up. True name identity theft means that the thief uses personal...
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...Abstract Culprits of identity theft are the modern day con artists that are able to convince and persuade people out of their money by promising their victims a portion of wealth which will never come to be. This paper will describe what is classified as identity theft, how people become victims of this crime and how people can avoid being becoming a victim to this popular means of deception in the electronic world. On the average one hundred thousand people are affected by identity theft in the United States per year and over two billion dollars in revenue is stolen as shown in the surveys that were conducted in 2003 -2006 (Anderson, Durbin & Salinger). Because of this threat the consumer becomes skeptical of online transactions which cause loss of business to many retailers as they are based solely on internet sales. For the retailer to make sure that the consumer is protected from fraudulent transactions and the possibility of their personal information to be at risk of being intercepted by others, the retailers need to incorporate special systems onto their site and have special programs that could make the purchasing of items from their business complicated for the consumer and will also raise the price of the goods to offset their loss on the security measures. The way people are committing the crimes of identity theft are only limited by the imagination of the person that commits these types of crimes. The source can be from someone...
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...observed that there has been a tremendous rise in the threats of malicious attacks globally—a appreciable increase of 71% between 2008 and 2009 was noted. A specie and very popular scam is Phishing and Identity Theft (IDT). This type of online crime is a fraudulent scheme whereby attackers invade the victims’ privacy and obtain their personally identifying information (PII) such as credit card numbers, CVV numbers, credit card reports, social security numbers, drivers license numbers (usually used in gaining short-term driving jobs), telephone calling cards, ATM card details, Mortgage details, date of birth details, passwords, PIN numbers, etc. (Hedayati, 2012). These details are used by online criminals to perpetrate larceny against their victims who may have compromised their PIIs through social engineering—a preliminary attack technique used by the attackers to trick victims into compromising such details to the criminals (Hedayati, 2012). Over the past decade, a well over 500 million of PIIs belonging to the United States residents kept and stored in various corporate or government and other institutional databases have been found to be stolen or lost to these criminals through privacy breaches (Douglas, 2013). According to Gartner Group, losses associated with phishing and ID theft suffered by US banks...
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...Dangers of Identity Theft Sharae Ernst IFSM 201 – Summer 2012 8/3/2012 “Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personally identifying information (PII), like your name, Social Security number, or credit card number, without your permission, to commit fraud or other crimes.” (Fighting Back Against Identity Theft: Federal Trade Commission). According to the Federal Trade Commission, identity theft complaints have decreased since year 2008 (314,521 to 250,854). It is estimated by the FTC that as many as 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year. As information technology progresses along with society, there is always an increased risk of having one’s identity stolen. “Identity theft was the number one complaint category in the CSN for calendar year 2010 with 19% of the overall complaints, followed by Debt Collection (11%); Internet Services (5%); Prizes, Sweepstakes and Lotteries (5%); Shop-at-Home and Catalog Sales (4%); Imposter Scams (4%); Internet Auction (4%); Foreign Money Offers and Counterfeit Check Scams (3%); Telephone and Mobile Services (3%); and Credit Cards (2%).” (Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book: For January - December 2010, 2011). Although the numbers have slightly decreased, overall, identity theft is on the rise. “According to a February 2012 Javelin Study, identity theft rose 13% from 2010 to 2011. More than 11.6 million adults became a victim of identity theft in the United States during 2011.” (Coping with Identity Theft: Reducing...
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...Alec Dohm Economics Period 1 Identity Theft is a vast problem that grows with the years and the tough economic times. Identity theft affects nearly 5% of the world’s adult population. In 26 % of all cases, the fraud victim knew the person who stole their identity, and most often it is a family member who rips you off. The best way to protect yourself is to buy and use a paper shredder and a safe. Also the only organization you are legally required to give your Social Security Number is your employer and financial institutions, like a bank. The economic effect of identity theft is more than what people may think. Check fraud alone rose to 5.5 billion dollars in 2003. Because that money was taken from others instead of made legally, the economy shows a loss. The annual cost of identity theft to businesses is 53 billion dollars because if somebody gets the I.D of a business owner then they can funnel money out of that person’s business as well as their personal bank accounts. The American Bankers Association reported 677 million dollars of losses in 2003, which is a slight decline from 2001. Being that the article is a few years old, I would say that those numbers have gone way up since then. If somebody steals your identity, it could affect you in countless ways. All of a sudden your credit card will start being declined for insufficient funds. When you go home and check your bank account online, your money will have magically disappeared. A person could also...
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...University of Phoenix Material Credit Protection and Identity Theft Directions Refer to: Building a Better Credit Report on the Federal Trade Commission’s site: www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre03.shtm Identity Theft resource center on the Federal Trade Commission’s site: www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/consumers/deter.html. Provide answers to three of the following questions based on your readings and your personal experiences. Answers should be 100-to 150-words each. 1. If you find errors on your credit report, what steps would you take to correct them? Take time to collect all the information you'll need to prove your case, such as copies of canceled checks and creditor statements, and much more. The more the better. All paper work you can come up with is needed. Put everything in writing. I need to have proper document for everything. Contact the bureau whose report you believe is not accurate, give them all your info so that they can verify your information, if you’ve moved, give them your previous address if necessary. Write them as if you were writing a potential employer. Make sure to include what you are disuting, and write it out as clear as possible. Attach any documents, and have all transaction numbers and account numbers. Last but not least, don’t forget to sign the letter. 2. There are many organizations that claim they will repair your credit for a fee. From your readings, should someone use a credit...
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