How Information Technologies Have Accelerated the Risk of Identity Theft

Identity theft is the stealing and use of someone’s personal information and is one of the fastest growing crimes in the nation (Dole, 2005). According to Federal Trade Commission estimates, identity thieves victimize approximately 10 million Americans every year at a cost of an astonishing $50 billion (2005). Identity theft has been going on for years now and is easily done with the help of today’s technology. According to the Federal Trade Commission, there are six common ways that identity thieves get a hold of personal information. The varieties of methods that are used are dumpster diving, skimming, phishing, changing the victim’s address, stealing, and pretexting (Federal Trade Commission). Once someone’s identity is stolen,

According to the Federal Trade Commission Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the United States of America. They estimated that 10 million people a year are victimized by the crime which comes out to about 19 people per minute are becoming victims of this crime. Given these extremely worrying statistics it has never been more important to be informed about the crime of identity theft and how to avoid it in your daily life especially as more schemes and ways to unknowingly forfeit your information are introduced with the prevalence of the World Wide Web (www, w3). More than just knowledge of the crime of identity theft it is also important to know what protections you can set to help protect your information. Also, given the amount of businesses and organizations, and the various vulnerabilities that their systems may have, that must have access and know significant information about your life it is also invaluable to understand how to recover from your information being lost. This paper will be used to inform about this growing crime including what identity theft is and the different types that exist, what information is most important to protect, what you can do to avoid it, how to recover from it and what that may entail, and how this applies to the field of computer science and what should be looked for when building systems, and different kinds of attacks that can happen.

Cybercrime has experienced significant progress during recent years, as its advance is directly proportional with the advance of technology. In spite of the fact that the authorities devise new and better strategies to fight cybercrime, the fact that the number of people online is constantly increasing means that cybercrimes occur even more frequently. Dishonest people who seek opportunities have discovered how the internet stands as a perfect environment for them to commit crimes by taking as little risks as possible. Computer fraud generates a series of benefits for the person committing it, as he or she can either profit financially from the enterprise or can simply alter files in order for his or her image to be positively affected. Identity theft is a major form of cybercrime and it is essential for society to acknowledge the gravity of the matter in order to be able to effectively fight against criminals using it.

Every minute, about nineteen people fall victim to identity theft. Identity theft is the fraudulent use of a person’s private information; typically for financial gain. Frank Abagnale Jr. was notorious for using various identities to receive numerous benefits. Abagnale’s identity wavered depending on the career he chose. This bewildered investigators and caused the prolonged search for Frank Abagnale Jr. As technology advances; identity theft will continue to flourish throughout numerous infrastructures. Identity theft hastily becoming one of the largest growing crimes in America. However, there are numerous ways to protect yourself from becoming a victim to this malicious threat. By inspecting your purchases on the internet, keeping your personal information safe,

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.

In recent years, the world has seen significant changes in technology. With new technology come new challenges. One of those new challenges is identity theft. Identity theft can happen through the internet, ATM, emails, or even a phone. Identity theft can happen when any person(s) takes an individual’s information, such as their Social Security number, or even banking information for financial gain. “Close to 100 million Americans have their personal information placed at risk of theft each year when records in databases are lost, stolen or accessed by unauthorized individuals” (Information systems and technology, n.d.). Identity theft not only costs the person, whose

In the age of cutting edge technology such as the world in which we live, easily obtainable information has turned out to be a mainstay in society. The days of instant-gratification are upon us and waiting for any length of time since the advent of the Internet has become unacceptable in the technological arena. Because information is so easily available, this gives pause to security and privacy of personal identifiable information. With headlines screaming Identity Theft the disadvantages are clear. No longer can users post whatever they are thinking, doing, wearing, etc. without the profound knowledge that each post is forever solidified forever on the World Wide Web for anyone with an Internet connection to access. Those with less technological knowledge have yet to grasp this concept and this unfortunately has caused harm to their personal lives and professional careers, in some cases.

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.

Internet identity theft is a serious danger in our world today, victims of this crime have had their lives ruined and in some cases have ended up in jail because of crimes committed by an identity thief. Internet identity theft is “the criminal act of fraudulently obtaining the personal information belonging to another individual within the realm of a computer or electronic setting.”(1) Throughout the past several years there have been several laws passed to combat and keep up with this ever evolving crime, those laws include The Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act, The Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act, and The Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act of 2008. In addition to these, several states have pending legislation out there to either pass new state laws or revise current ones. In this paper, theses laws and the pending legislation in some of those states will be discussed in detail.

The number of people that have experienced identity theft has been increasing rapidly. Identity theft is when one’s personal information, including social security number, credit card number or even name is stolen and is used for economic gain. A person’s identity could be taken at any time or place, and it could happen without them knowing about it. Once a person’s identity has been stolen, there are not many things they can do about it, and resolving it might take a couple months, if not years. According to “Fending Off Identity Fraud” by Danielle Britni, in 2012 alone, 16.6 million Americans were victims of some type of identity theft. In this article, the author explains multiple ways of protecting one’s identity, as well as a way of keeping

In the past several years, technology advancement has made individuals identity more susceptible to be stolen. I find this topic to be very interesting because I have had my identity compromised. Several years ago when I was nineteen I was completing credit reports on several popular credit reporting websites. Each time I would finish answering the questions and putting all of my personal information into the website I would be directed to another questionnaire where I would be asked to list properties that I had owned, if I lived in a certain location, and if I knew certain people. I did not know any of these locations or individuals that the website would list. Being nineteen and naïve I would just take the incident as something being wrong with the website or just a minor error on my part. A few months went by I was filing my taxes like the year previous. I had no problems occur and everything seemed to be good. About a week later I was at work, and the Internal Revenue Service had called. I was extremely nervous. The IRS had called to tell me that my identity needed to be confirmed. I thought this was really strange. So while this was going on my tax return was just at a standstill. I was so aggravated, between the calls with my tax preparer and the IRS, I thought it was never going to be resolved. During this time, my bank had been trying to reach me, but the bank had the wrong information on file. One day I was sent a letter in the mail that informed me that my last

     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

Only within the past few years have there even been reliable estimates of the incidence of identity theft. “The first thorough survey of the extent of identity theft was conducted for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2003. A similar survey, involving interviews with slightly more than 4,900 randomly selected individuals, was conducted for the commission between March and June 2006” (Anderson, Durbin, & Salinger. ID Theft). Victims of identity theft are commonplace and the resulting monetary losses have been impressive. However, this attention to identity theft is a fairly new phenomenon. With its immense growth, attention and precedence, cyber-criminals are able to infiltrate and depreciate the integral infrastructure of our society which creates a cultural lapse through the declination of economic and cultural growth and double jeopardize an already unstable system to the brink of its destruction. Research has suggested that victims of identity theft spend an average of $1,500 in out-of-pocket expenses and an average of 175 hours per incident of identity theft in order to resolve the many problems caused by identity

How many, in this group has a computer, phone, and/or a tablet? How many have a mobile internet connection, or a local internet connection available for you to use? If you said yes to any of those, then it is likely you have an email address, you have given your home address on a website, entered credit card information, and possibly do online banking. Life is filled with hoops, jumps, and seemingly impossible boundaries. However, when including technology, it allows an extra vulnerability to you. Unfortunately, some of those vulnerabilities are directly related to people with only one goal, to cause problems. In the growing world of technology, the ability to steal personal information is becoming much easier than ever before. With society switching to the cyber world as a more convenient way of life, it is imperative to take the proper methods for protecting your information.

The United States Department of Justice defines Identity Theft and Fraud as, “… terms used to refer to 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, 2012). An individual’s personal data such as: Social Security number, bank account information, credit card numbers, or telephone calling card number¬ may be used by criminals to personally profit at your expense. In many cases, a victim's loss not only includes out-of-pocket financial losses, but substantial additional financial costs and time repairing and correcting credit histories and erroneous information. To assist with my research for this paper, I chose two books written from different perspectives. First, I sought out a book to provide a comprehensive review of identity theft history; methods used to steal identities, consequences of having your identity stolen, and prevention techniques from an individual or business perspective. Next, after developing a strong baseline on identity theft, I searched for a reference book which offers a comprehensive review of the concepts of computer crimes, relevant laws, and methods practiced by investigators to trace, capture and persecute identity theft