A Brief Note On Cyberstalking And Identity Fraud

In this case since the fraudulent transactions were reported immediately the customer will only be responsible for $50.

Identity theft is a type of fraud that involves using someone else's identity to steal money or gain other benefits. as of yet,

Some of the most common cyber-crimes are cyberstalking, identity theft, spam and phishing among others. Cyber stalking has been classified as one of prevalent cybercrimes with many internet users falling victims of cyber bullying. Cyber stalkers meet their victims in different ways; mostly they normally have a relationship either in the real world or online world. Cyberstalking starts when this relationship ends. However, strangers who have collected information on the internet can also be cyber stalkers. The desire to control and even harm their victims is what motivates cyber stalkers. They may go to the measures of personifying their victims and post messages or controversial posts on the boards and chat rooms. In this real regard, cyberstalking is a real crime (Mansourabadi, 2014).

Identity theft is a type of fraud, it is the deliberate use of someone else's identity. Most commonly to gain money or obtain credit and other benefits in the victim’s name. The victim whose identity has been stolen may suffer consequences such as being held responsible for the offender's actions. Identity theft occurs when someone uses someone else’s identifying information (such as their name, credit card number, passport, etc.) without their permission.

This paper will cover the topic of identity theft via the internet, phone and several other schemes. It will identify various ways in which your identity is stolen and ways which you can safeguard yourself from being victimized. I will also report what the Department of Justice is doing and the penalties associated with these crimes.

What is cyberstalking? Cyberstalking is defined as " the use of the Internet, email or other electronic communications to stalk, and generally refers to a pattern of threatening or malicious behaviors." Meaning it would be unlawful for anyone to threaten to cause bodily harm to any person, person's child, sibling, spouse, or dependent. This also includes extorting money or other valuables and threatening to cause any physical damages to a person's

Stalking has been defined by J. Reid Meloy, recognized as the authority on stalking, as “[Stalking is] an abnormal or long term pattern of threat or harassment directed towards a specific individual” (Bocij, 2004, p. 6). Pathé and Mullen define stalking as “A constellation of behaviors in which one individual inflicts on another repeated unwanted intrusions and communications” (Mullen, Pathé, & Purcell, 2000, p. 7). In general stalking can include several components: 1) an undesirable habit or conduct such as following, spying, or making unwanted phone calls; 2) the target of these attentions, or a “reasonable person,” would feel fear or a similar emotion such as distress, annoyance, or torment; and 3) there is a sincere danger of harm to the target of the attentions (Nobles, Reyns, Fox, & Fisher, 2014). Cyberstalking has even less cohesion in its legal definition. Generally it includes the use of electronic communication to do any of the following things in two on two or more occasions: communicating with an individual after being asked to stop; harassing, annoying, or tormenting an individual; making unwelcome sexual advances towards an individual; and threatening an individual with physical violence (Reyns, 2012). It has also been defined

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,

Identity fraud is stealing someone’s personal information and uses it for the purpose to defraud

Identity theft has not had a clear definition. The unclear definition is due to the complexity of the facts regarding identity theft. Identity theft, also known as ‘the crime of the new millennium’ or white color theft has come to the public eyes due to the impacts of the act (Craats, 2005). Identity theft occurs when a person misappropriates another person’s information and uses it with the intention of gaining some particular advantages. In this case, a person means not only a human being but also a legal person such as a company (Craats, 2005). In most cases, the advantage gained is financial, for example, presuming identity of a person, taking their credit card and through deception, withdrawing money from their accounts. In U.S, the federal law defines identity theft as ‘knowingly transferring, holding, or using, without authorized right, a way of identification of another individual with the intent to undertake, aid any illegal activity that includes violation of Federal law, or that constitutes a felony under any national or local law.’ Identity theft has been said to be made easier due to globalization and lack of cyber borders (Giles 2010). Lack of cyber borders provides a ripe environment for identity thieves to function from within the state 's borders as well as from beyond.

In the article Cyberstalking, personal privacy, and moral responsibility Herman T. Tavani and Frances S. Grodzinsky start by analyzing the topic of stalking. They start by giving the definition of stalking as being generally considered as being one in which an individual, the stalker, stealthily tracks the movement of another individual or individuals. The authors then proceed on portraying the topic of cyberstalking. They show that cyberstalking can be understood as a form of behavior in which certain types of stalking-related activities, which in the past have occurred in physical space, are extended to the on-line world. (Tavini and Grodzinsky p.123) To make more vivid, Tavani and Grodzinsky give an example of cyberstalking. They display that a 20 year old girl was murdered

Identity Theft is the assumption of a person’s identity in order to obtain credit cards from back account and retailers; the crime varies from stealing money from existing bank accounts; renting apartments or storage units; applying for loans or establishing accounts using another’s name (legal dictionary, 2007). Identity theft and identity fraud are terms that are often used

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, approximately one in four stalking victims reported some form of cyber stalking such as e-mail (83%) or instant messaging (35%) and nearly three in four stalking victims knew their offender in some capacity (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2012). Cyber stalking has many classifications, most include the use of threats and stalking via email, social media, or texting. Cyber stalking defined is the repeated used of electronic communication to stalk or harass someone. Cyber stalking can have many faces and can involve more than one person, ultimately cyberstalking is still a misconduct that often goes unnoticed in the social media realm.

The cyber crime I have chosen is cyber-predators. Cyber predators are individuals who commit sexual abuse that begins or takes place on the Internet. Although the Internet did not create child predators, it has significantly increased the opportunities predators have to meet victims while minimizing detection. They can communicate with children anonymously through instant messaging, social networking sites, chat rooms, message boards, and even cell phones.

     In today's society, there is a white-collar crime that has greatly risen in popularity among criminals. This crime is identity theft. Hundreds of thousands of people have their identities stolen each year. Identity theft is when these criminals obtain and use consumers personal information such as credit card numbers, bank account numbers, insurance information, and social security numbers to purchase goods or services fraudulently. According to the Federal Trade Commission, over 1.1 million people were the victim of identity theft. With this number, it is very evident that identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in our country. This paper will attempt to more thoroughly define identity theft. It will