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Identity Theft Research Paper

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Identity Theft, one of the worst crimes that could happen to someone without them even knowing it. Identity Theft is subtle and sometimes can go undiscovered for lengthy amounts of time. The Bureau of Justice Statistics says “An estimated 17.6 million Americans—about 7% of U.S. residents age 16 or older—were victims of identity theft in 2014” (Harell). As Identity fraud is subtle, it is harder to find evidence that it could be happening. Luckily, there are ways to detect it. A way to detect identity theft is if “The IRS notifies a victim that more than one tax return was filed in their name, or that they have income from an employer they don’t work for.” (Identity Theft Recovery Steps). Identity theft is a major problem that most people do …show more content…

The use of government identification is used from buying alcohol to applying for a job. If the identification is stolen, the criminals now have access to these items, while using the victim’s money. Criminals that conduct identity theft have even been known for buying items such as a new driver’s license! The most thought of form of identity theft is from credit cards. These types of theft can be stopped the quickest, if the person is active in checking their accounts for unauthorized transactions. Some purchases, like purchasing furniture may have the bank calling you to make sure you are authorizing that purchase, as it is a more expensive purchase. Many cases of identity theft, have no financial loss. The National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) states: “From 2005 to 2010, the percentage of all households with one or more type of identity theft that suffered no direct financial loss increased from 18.5% to 23.7%.” While there may have been some out of pocket expenses to help get everything back to normal, these cases are less severe than the other ones stated so far. While identity theft can be a great burden, these cases can be solved within a day. The Bureau of Justice Statistics found that “Half of identity theft victims who were able to resolve any associated problems did so in a day or less.” …show more content…

Prior to 1998 there was no federal crime for identity theft. As such, most of these criminals didn’t go to jail for the actual theft, but instead for the branch crimes that may have resulted from the theft. Extreme cases of identity theft convinced congress to make identity theft a federal crime. The simplicity of stealing identity is surprisingly simple. The Department of Justice says that “shoulder surfing” or watching victims from a nearby location as they punch in a victim’s telephone number or credit card number”. People who commit identity theft can do more that look over the shoulder. Other ways they can get information is by intercepting mail left out in the open and by using scam e-mails. Scam emails are emails that offer a prize or benefit by just providing personal information to them. Emails can also come from lost siblings, kidnapped princes, and more odd scam emails. As ridiculous as these emails can be, they trick millions of people

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