“According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics Personal Fraud Survey 2010-11, an estimated total

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.

Have you ever received a credit card bill at the end of the month with a ridiculous amount of money needed to be paid that you never spent? This is because of identity theft. The FTC estimates that each year, over 9 million people are affected by identity theft. According to Sally Driscoll, this is because almost anyone with a computer and a slight bit of computer knowledge can pull off identity theft. Experts also claim that identity theft is the fastest-growing crime in the world. Identity theft is a global problem that cannot be stopped without effective measures. The problem is, effective measures are very hard to come by when dealing with identity theft because almost any security protocol can be by-passed.

Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act is a federal law established in 1998 that protects people from identity theft. Prior to this date there were not any specific laws to address this issue. The definition on the Federal Trade Commission’s website reads. “knowingly transfers or uses, without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person with the intent to commit, or to aid or abet, any unlawful activity that constitutes a violation of Federal law, or that constitutes a felony under any applicable State or local law;”

Identity theft is a significant problem to both citizens and financial institutions. The FTC estimates that over 27.3 million Americans have been the victims of identity theft in the past five years. The

Consideration of recommendations will significantly improve the quality and availability of data and will enhance the monitoring of identity crime and misuse throughout Australia on a permanent basis. In the future, an identity crime measurement framework will act as a minor step towards protecting the Australian society from identity theft. The National Identity Security Coordination Group (NISCG) is entailed to contract an annual identity crime measurement report for relevant Commonwealth, state and territory ministers on the extent, and impacts of the crime in

Given the widespread effects of identity theft, it’s clear to see why 18% of Australians believe they are at risk in the next 12 months. Some alarming statistics regarding identity theft are:

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

Before 1998, identity theft crimes were charged under statutes that dated back to the 19th century. These were called false personation statutes. False personation can be defined as assuming the identity of someone else in order to personally benefit or to keep from paying an expense.(2) Obviously these statutes were very outdated and needed to address more current threats of identity theft that were not around when they were written. In 1998, Congress passed the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act, this law featured four major details; identity theft became a

Identity theft/fraud is becoming a major threat to the Australian community as technology advances. This section of crime produces substantial profits for offenders and causes considerable financial and emotions harm to the victims (Australian federal police, 2014). With this increasing alarm around identity theft/fraud in Australia, there has to be strong legal actions available to counteract the issue. Identity theft/fraud can be defined as a crime of obtaining the personal or financial information of another person for the sole purpose of assuming that person’s name or identity in order to gain benefit (investopedia, 2014). This essay will extensively discuss the current laws/legislations implemented for identity theft/fraud, the key stakeholders involved in the issue and an overview around the effectiveness of the current laws/legislations. After thoroughly analysing the current legislations used to counteract the threat of identity theft/fraud, it will be clear which aspects of the legislations are working efficiently and which aspects are proving inefficient for the Australian government.

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).

     There is currently a huge growing number of criminals that now do greater and more widespread damage to their victims without ever meeting them. Identity theft surfaced in the early 1990s and turned peoples everyday transactions into a data gathering game. Bits of personal information such as bankcards, credit card accounts, income, social security numbers or just someone name, address, and phone numbers are now collected and could be used illegally by these individuals without anyone’s knowledge.

     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

A. Identity theft is defined as an illegal use of someone’s information in order to obtain money or credit in the

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

“Identity theft: the fraudulent practice of using another person's name and personal information to obtain credit, loans, etc.” In 2014, there were around 95,000 reports of identity theft in the UK alone. However, that enormous figure rose even further in 2015 to a spine-chilling 148,000 - causing identity theft to rise by 58% in one year alone. Someone new becomes a target every day. Every day, someone loses their individuality. Every day, someone gains an online twin. These so-called