According to the U.S. Department of Justice, an estimated 11.7 million Americans were victims of identity theft in 2010 (U.S. Dept. of Justice). Identity theft is defined as a crime where someone illegally acquires and utilizes another person’s vital information to deceive for personal gain. That same year, the Federal Trade Commission reported that identity theft crimes cost businesses and individuals an estimated $53 billion (Federal Trade Commission). Most Americans are familiar with identity theft but aren’t well-informed about the influence it has on the economy in addition to individuals. They are not knowledgeable about the laws that are meant to protect consumers and are not mindful of the ways to protect themselves. Maybe if …show more content…
Information can be attained through friends /relatives, accessed as part of a transaction, taken by a corrupt employee at any institution used, through mail, computer spyware, virus, hackers, and email, also out of the trash (Katel, Peter). The average American ignores the risks that everyday activities put it in. Ignorance is never an excuse when something of such substantial value becomes compromised, nor does it rectify the damages.
Damages from identity theft crimes can distress the victims in a number of ways. Victims can end up losing their possessions or paying out of their own pockets for the things the thief acquired through the fraudulent use of their identity. For instance, a victim and his wife spent more than four years and an estimated $15,000 of their own money repairing their credit and reputations. After the thief attained over $100,000 of debt and was convicted, he called their house and ridiculed them (United States Department of Justice). In addition to the financial losses, victims must spend countless hours in the process of repairing the destruction of their reputation, a process that involves notifying all the appropriate agencies to explain how personal information could have been stolen and how it was used fraudulently, over and over with each financial institution and creditors, in addition to postal inspection services, Federal Trade Commission, Social Security Administration, law
Being a victim of identity theft myself, I know the struggles of dealing with this topic. The credit card companies are at fault because of their lack of security when it comes to credit card usage and existing information. Credit card fraud is the easiest to commit and the most common. The Bureau of Justice did a study in 2007 with 7.9 billion people surveyed on how many households with at least one member of the household has been a victim of identity theft. The statistics showed that existing credit card theft increased from 2005 to 2007 by 31% and with 6.6% of people, being
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.
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
In 2014, there were an estimated 2.3 million cases, a twenty-two percent increase from the previous year (Andrews, 2016). According to the Federal Trade Commission, identity theft complaints have also increased by more than 47 percent since 2014 and it was the second most reported crime after illegal debt collection. (“FTC Releases Annual Summary of Consumer Complaints Debt Collection, Identity Theft, and Imposter Scams Remain Top Categories of Complaints Received by FTC in 2015”, 2016) “The 2017 Identity Fraud Study, released by Javelin Strategy & Research, found that $16 billion was stolen from 15.4 million U.S. consumers in 2016, compared with $15.3 billion and 13.1 million victims in 2015. In the past six years identity thieves have stolen over $107 billion.” (“Identity Theft and Cybercrime”,
Figuring out if an identity is stolen is not easy only because it can be unknown until damage is dealt. This is why identity theft isn’t easy to stop. When most people report a crime, police arrive on the scene before serious damage is dealt, but when a thief steals a person’s identity, the victim can be unaware for quite some time before they realize the amount of money they lost. According to Tracey Whittaker and Anne Dilascio, in 2003, the average money lost from identity theft per person was $4,789, but in 2006 the average was less than $2000. The average out-of-pocket cost of identity theft victims in 2005 was
The Internet has vastly expanded the opportunities for identity theft. A particularly prevalent form of cyber theft is known as phishing. This occurs when cybercriminals use spam, e-mail, or other messages to trick people into submitting personal information. As phishing has become more sophisticated, criminals have developed ways to gain access to such data merely by having the user click on the link. Phishers often pool stolen information and sell it on the black market via online forums. Max Ray Vision ran one such site, CardMarkets.com. When Vision was arrested in 2007, computers in his home contained some 1.8 million stolen credit card and bank account numbers. This information allowed Vision and his associates to make more than $86 million in fraudulent purchases.
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
Larceny is defined as the wrongful taking and carrying away of the personal goods of another from his or her possession with intent to convert them to the takers own use. To bluntly say it, larceny is stealing from others. No matter what the motives or reasons behind stealing are, it is still wrong. I imagine there is a multitude of motives for someone to convince himself or herself that it is worth the risk to steal something. Some other people might also not have the conscience to feel wrong for stealing. A large part of this is because people do not understand who or what they are harming when they steal. It is very common to become self-indulged and only worry about your problems. Even after being caught someone might only feel
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).
By definition “Identity theft n. the dishonest acquisition of personal information in order to perpetrate fraud, typically by obtaining credit, loans, etc., in someone else's name; fraud perpetrated in this way. ” (dictionary.oed.com, 2007). It’s estimated that 9 million Americans have had their identities stolen each year. “According to the Secret Service, its investigations show a jump in potential losses due to identity theft, from $851 million in 1998 to $1.4 billion in 2000.” add citation from how stuff works There are many ways that thieve steal your identity, they may go through your trash, steal your wallet or purse. I will discuss a lot of the different ways in more
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
The internet has become a part of every day life, in fact for many it is their life. You can meet other people, play games, do research, communicate with loved ones half way across the country, and now you can even shop and bank online.
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
Of the many crimes that are present in this day and age, one that not only vandalizes the property, but as well as historical background is that of art theft. A crime that has taken away the sanctity of churches as well as many other religious and historical sites. Thefts have ranged from WWII (World War II) to the times of the Holocaust. Of the items that were taken from the churches, relics were items of great priority. These items not only had great value to the churches they were stolen from, but a great value to relic collectors. Most of the items taking during these times were either sold or placed in underground storage. Most of these items that were place in these secret places were never to be seen again. From the