According to the FTC, Identity theft topped the Federal Trade Commission’s national ranking of consumer complaints for the 15th consecutive year. There are eight different types of identity theft: Financial Identity Theft, Driver’s License ID Theft, Criminal ID Theft, Social Security ID Theft, Medical ID Theft, Insurance ID Theft, Child ID Theft, and Synthetic ID Theft. As I read though the list of potential identity theft issues, it honestly made me want to crawl under a rock, it is very unsettling that there are so many ways in which someone can become you. And the fact that many times we never know that a breach of our private data has occurred is equally unsettling. While most countries have accepted that data protection is vital,
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
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 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
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.
Our government is doing a better job of assisting citizens when it comes to identity theft but there is much more to do. Below are my findings.
Two years ago, Bob had just bought a new house. After he and his family were settled in, they started cleaning up the place and throwing away “unneeded” documents. Three months later, when Bob was applying for a car loan, he found that his credit history had been destroyed. He was a victim of identity theft, a crime that often causes people debt, unjustified imprisonment, and murder, being one of the most dangerous, yet easiest, crimes to commit. Identity theft includes other types of fraud and identity related crimes.
In the course of a busy day, you may write a check at the grocery store, charge
Identity theft is a growing problem and happens when someone else uses your information/identity as if it were their own. It’s a serious crime that can damage your finances, credit history, and inflict an emotional toll. The recovery process can take time, money, and patience to resolve. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, it takes 600 hours to restore your identity after a theft has taken place. This means your best bet is prevention.
In this paper, author Kirks communicates his views about Identity Theft in which he mentions that identity theft is everywhere and it targets individuals that use online access for social media and banking services emphasizing being the most common form of minor criminal activity among individuals. He notes that society induces the means of the act by been careless in providing personal and private information on online and merchants, as they are massive vault of personal information alluring hacker from steal it.
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).
One takes a chance on identify theft every time one surfs the Internet, search Web sites, and send emails. Furthermore, one only needs to read the daily newspaper to see another headline regarding a prominent company data breach. I often think about stolen identify scenarios when I check my bank statement online, or pay a bill online. I have had my Visa credit card account stolen even as I had the card in my purse. Someone used the account for about a month and I normally don’t open my statement when it first arrives. But I did that particular month and noticed unauthorized charges. Needless to say I way not a happy camper! It takes effort and time to get those types of things straighten out. There are several legislation on the books regarding
Medical identity theft is when someone that does not have health insurance claims to be you in order to use your personal information to get medical care, like surgery or get prescription drugs. The really bad part is that this type of theft is hard to prove. Also this false information could become part of your medical record. Synthetic Identity Theft is when is when a completely new identification is created using bit and pieces of different people’s information. For example, they may use one person’s social security number and another person address and the use someone else’s name. This type of crime is hard to detect, since the information really doesn’t make anyone information. Criminal identity theft is when someone gives law enforcement someone else information when pull over and taken to jail. They are then release and then go on about their business and the person’s whose identity was stolen is held accountable. This individual may not be aware of this until they are perhaps pulled over in a traffic stop. The last form of identity theft I would like to discuss is identity cloning. This is when someone
Identity theft is on the rise in the United States and Globally. The Federal Trade Commission advised that there are about nine million cases of identity theft. People who had their identity stolen often feel like they were violated. Any individual can have their identity compromised in numerous ways. Different institutions store personal information. There are several organizations that have social security numbers, bank account numbers, and credit card numbers. Colleges and Universities have people personal information stored in their databases that could be hacked. There are several companies that offer options to people to protect their identity. Most credit card companies offer the option of identity
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