IDENTITY THEFT AND PROTECTION

Identity Theft And Protection



Identity Theft And Protection

Introduction

Identity theft (also knows as Identity fraud) is when someone steals another person's identity so they could become that person. It can lead to illegal immigration, terrorism, espionage, or changing identity permanently. So far it's the fastest growing crime in the nation because not many people are caught. It is just another ordinary day while someone is checking their e-mail. In amongst the messages from mom, newsletters, and other items there is a message marked important. The e-mail is from their credit card company and they need to verify the information listed on the account. To make it easy, the credit card company provided a direct link in the e-mail. The link is clicked and the account is squared away. All is well again and the e-mail from mom can be resumed. Unfortunately, all is not well, as this person was just a target of a scam called “phishing” and they just quite possibly became a victim of identity theft(Freeman Mann 1997)

Thesis Statement

Identity Theft was once a personal crime requiring criminals to have some form of contact with the victim, if nothing more than rummaging through the trash, can now be done from as close as next door or as far away as across the world.

Victims of identity theft

Victims of identity theft, as a rule, do not even know that they have been targeted until it is up to the end. Identity theft can take years and a lot of money to see, as long as credit is ruined, and lives destroyed. As with other crimes, we can not fully control, if we are victims, but we can be aware of how criminals get our personal information, how to reduce the risk of being a victim and some useful information about what to do after the crime (US Department of Justice, 2001). Indicator of Identity theft

There are different ways to tell whether or not ID theft has not happened. Always turn bank statements, check whether or not an unexplained charges or removes posted to your account. Receiving calls for the collection of accounts that the consumer never opened another key if you have been targeted (McClure, Scambray, 2002). Another possible indicator that identity theft occurs when consumers can not get the usual bills, or other communications, usually comes at a certain time each month. Receiving credit cards that have never been used, or the denial of credit for no apparent reasons, may also be indicative of what you as a consumer have been the victims of this terrible crime. Even though people have protected themselves there is still a chance that they can become a victim. Swartz (May/Jun, 2003) gave a perfect example of what can happen to personal information; Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate students Simon Garfinkel and Abhi Shelat released a study showing the problem with computers and how easy it is to obtain personal information. The two bought 158 used hard drives from secondhand computer ...