Identity Theft (Body)

It continues in early American history with fraud in voter registration to stuff ballot boxes. In the 1930’s with the end of prohibition America would see the most common form of identity theft for over half a century, the “fake ID”. Reasons for Identity Theft changed over time and became more sophisticated as new forms of technology were introduced to the public. Now not only did people have the motive, but also the resources to take someone’s identity and money.

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

Identify theft, in general, can affect a person for a lifetime. Federal law defines medical identity theft as “A fraud committed or attempted using the identifying information of another person without authority to obtain medical services or goods, or when someone uses the person’s identity to obtain money by falsifying claims for medical services and falsifying medical records to support those claims.” (“Red Flag Rule - Identity Theft Prevention Policy”, 2009). However, medical identity theft is not as easily traced compared to something such as, credit card theft. With the crime being less traceable and the ever-expanding health care system, it is not surprising that medical identity theft is continually rising. Medical identity theft accounts

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.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is a federal law that requires covered entities to maintain reasonable and appropriate administrative, technical, and physical safeguards for protecting electronic patient health information (e-PHI) (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules). Entities must: 1) ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of all e-PHI they create, receive, maintain, or transmit; 2) identity and protect against reasonable anticipated threats to the security or integrity of the information; 3) protect against reasonable anticipated , impermissible users or disclosures; and 4) ensure compliance in the workplace. Entities must review and modify security measures to continue protecting e-PHI in a changing environment. They are required to run risk assessments as part of security measures, implement security measures that reduce risks and vulnerabilities to a reasonable and appropriate level, and designate a security officer responsible for developing and implementing its security policies and procedures.

Throughout the years, identity theft has been the fastest growing crime in the United States. Since December 2014, 17.6 million Americans have endured identity theft. But what is identity? Society has define identity to be information, such as an SSN or passport, used to establish or prove a person's individuality. While in reality, identity is the question humankind ask themselves “Who am I?” and “What am I?”. As Erik Erikson, psychological development, stated, if the human race can’t define and engender their identity by their adolescence age, then they become addle or solitude throughout their adulthood. Overall, identity is an entity that’s not inherit by primogenitor but rather concoct by values, experiences, and challenges face throughout

A multitude of emotions and feelings washed over me as I watched the story of Michele Brown and her struggle with identity theft. I knew I would feel anger and I did as I realized that a young person with a dream to own a home could become exploited and violated in such a destructive way. Then, my feeling turned to disbelief. How could a person be so dishonest as to take advantage of another person? From a Christian perspective it is hard to fathom, but in reality, it is important that we all understand there are dishonest people in the world.

The victim Vikki had her hand bag stolen while she was in the process of moving so the thief got all her personal information and documents including her passport. The victim cancelled all her credit cards, passport, and even filled a police report immediately. The identity theft used true name fraud and took out car loans that totaled over £20,000. The identity theft also used account takeover and set up to have two automatic bank withdrawals from the victim’s personal bank account. Vikki worries about the identity theft striking again and wasting another hundred or more hours dealing with being the victim of identity theft. The victim has had her credit ruined and two of the credit reporting agencies has done nothing to help resolve her credit score even though it was proven that Vikki was a victim of identity theft (I, 2005).

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).

The less sophisticated thieves have perfected the art of “dumpster-driving” rummaging through trash. Abusing employer’s authorized access to credit reports or some even playing ‘landlord’ has given them unauthorized access to victim’s reports. Some victims have been scammed fro information by an identity thief posing as a legitimate businessperson or government official. In the most recent news from Concord, NC (Aug. 19, 2004), the police have uncovered a more sophisticated case of ID theft. The newspapers stated, “Authorities think a portable credit card reader, or skimmer, was used to read personal information off a credit card’s magnetic strip. Then those details were applied to the strip on the back of a different cared.”

     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

Identity theft continues to be a problem in the United States, yet research on identity thieves is limited. Both the theoretical and empirical literature on identity theft is in their infancy. As a result, not surprisingly, not much is known about this crime and its victims.

Our identity is something we often take for granted. We live our lives with a preconceived notion that our identity cannot be taken away from us. It does not occur to us that one day we could be stripped of who we are, whether it be literally or metaphorically. Most people think of identity theft in its literal form. They think of identity theft financially, where someone had their social security number compromised, credit card information stolen, driver’s license reproduced, etc. Unfortunately, financial identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States. According to a 2012 study, in the United States alone, “7% of all households were affected by identity theft victimization” (Reyns). Despite the magnitude of financial identity theft, metaphorical identity theft is just as widespread. Metaphorical identity theft, unlike literal identity theft can be committed by anyone, even yourself. While literal identity theft often affects your bank account, those affected by metaphorical identity theft lose something far greater, they lose themselves.

“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

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