Identity Theft Research Paper

People use credit cards to shop online and purchase various goods. Through this, hacking and infiltrating personal information through various sites have become rampant on the Internet. A simple way for protecting your credit information is only purchasing goods from secure sites. Do not purchase any goods from unknown websites or sites without a lock or “https” in the address bar. Typically, shopping sites require you to have an email, username, and password. Hackers could easily obtain information of usernames and passwords by hacking the documentation systems of websites. By, creating perplexed passwords consisting of numbers, symbols, uppercase & lowercase letters to make it arduous for hackers to obtain a password. Nevertheless, your email is still a haven for another treat: scammers. Scammers could send spam and clever emails to leverage to sending money. Infamous scams such as the “Nigerian Prince” could dupe into transferring cash; hoping for a bogus reward. Through protecting and cleaning your email; you could certainly avoiding being a victim of these prevalent scams, allowing to carefully use the internet as you

Identity Theft: Identity theft is a major problem with people using the internet for banking services and cash transactions. It results in major financial losses for the victim where the criminal accesses data about a person’s personal information or sensitive information to siphon the

Identity theft is a negative issue in the entire United States, but the state of Florida is where it is most common and where there is the most cases. Due to Florida having the most identity theft complaints, it is important to question just how vulnerable the state is to this form of fraud. However, it is evident that Florida needs to find more efficient ways to limit identity theft drastically, since it has led the nation in identity theft for the past three years. This paper will examine the steps that are involved in identity theft and the areas that are most negatively affected by this crime, in the state, In addition, this paper will examine the best strategies that individuals can utilize to prevent identity theft and protect their personal information, such as shredding paperwork that contain sensitive information before throwing it away and not carrying a Social Security card with them. The paper will make the readers understand how serious of a crime identity theft is and why it happens in Florida more often than any other state in the United States.

Identity theft is the least understood of all problems, though this assumption of our identities for fraudulent purposes is the most alarming of all problems. It is the most rapidly growing crime in the United States. It is quite complex, and this is how fraudsters work. A fraudster gets hold of your personal information, including your social security number and the numbers of your credit cards, among others. It is not so difficult if you are not careful. He/she assumes your identity, runs up astronomical bills, and leaves you holding the bag. This leaves you with a credit record that is totally ruined, and creditors at your door screaming for their money.

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

Millions of children use the internet almost daily. Cybercrime is a multibillion dollar industry. Around half of teens have been cyber bullied and well over half don't tell a parent when it does occur. Parents should use parental control because their are predators on social media. Also identity theft is very plausible and it will help with time management.

During this project, the question arose; who is or has been the biggest winner of identity theft? In the few rare cases involving identity theft where a perpetrator was caught, the culprits in the following cases were identified. And the runner up in the game of identity theft is: Albert Gonzales who in 2008 stole 30 million credit and bank card numbers, hacked several corporate data bases and stole over $200 million. And our grand prize winner is: Philip Cummings who in 2002 obtained 15,000 consumer’s identities and hacked a credit reporting agency. He stole $2.7 million. (Graphs.net). While there is no clear solution to prevent being a victim of identity theft, a person can only take precautions, be aware of their surroundings, monitor

Plus the motivator’s behind the identity theft whether it is for personal financial gain, employment or a part of an organized crime group, then the greater chance of stopping it before too much damage is done. Prevention can be as simple as an update to a computer’s anti-virus software or using a firewall, checking bank statements, checking credit reports and not leaving mail in the mailbox. It is important to let the victim(s) know to make the appropriate calls in a timely manner. And to make sure all irregularities have been identified and turned over to the proper agencies and authorities. It is not something to push to the side, it is their lives after

Identity theft over the years has cost citizens and businesses millions of dollars each year just in the United States alone. It has also taken on different forms from true identity theft (false impersonation), to theft for financial gain, and to non-credit forms of identity theft. Identity theft does not necessarily have to cause monetary damage, but what it does do to a victim’s credit, medical history, citizenship, driving records, etc. can do possibly more damage. Furthermore, identity theft threatens our national security, impacts our economy, and can facilitate terrorism and illegal

Identity theft is one of the growing crimes in the United States due to the fact people do not know how to properly protect themselves against it. Criminals use different methods to acquire the information necessary to steal someone’s identity. Some of the techniques used to commit identity theft are; stealing wallets, acquiring bank information or pilfering through trash to find documents containing PII (FBI, n.d.). Nowadays criminals are able to steal people’s identity using different procedures over the internet without having to compromise their identity. Some of the methods are social engineering, phishing, sending spam messages and malware (OLI, 2013). Criminals use these methods because with the use of technology, identity theft could be accomplished anonymously and without much effort. Also because people lower their guard about securing their personally identifiable information when using the internet, especially when using social networks, they become easy targets to

There are as many as eight or more different types of identity thefts, but these three are the more common types: Financial Identity Theft, Driver’s License Identity Theft, Social Security Identity Theft. Consumers need to know what to do if they are a victim of identity theft starting by knowing the type of identity theft they are dealing with. (Stroup, 2016) Most people recognize and associate financial theft with this type of crime. It involves the use of personal information to create or take over someone’s financial accounts such as (checking accounts, credit cards, etc). Thieves then can acquire the information needed to hack into your accounts or steal your information through computer viruses, data hacking or any other cyber- attacks. It can be frustrating, stressful and time consuming trying to get

With the rise in the need for the convenience of online shopping and bill pay, identity theft has become a more prevalent issue around the world. Identity theft is a type of crime in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person’s personal data in some way that involves fraud of deception, typically for economic gain (Identity Theft). In 2009, approximately 13.9 million Americans were victims of some form of identity theft (Theoharis). Studies have shown that one out of every 20 consumers will fall victim to identity crimes this year (Theoharis). Death and taxes have always been a certain part of life, but with the rise of online shopping identity theft has become almost as

Practicing operational security is an important step which aides in the safe guarding of digital information. Communication through secure means, whether it is through a password protected database or secure server, will lower the likelihood of information leaked. Practicing caution when opening emails from an unfamiliar sender, downloading programs, or opening links may also decrease chances of compromising information. Scams that utilize phishing techniques commonly use these avenues to attempt gaining information. Limiting the personally identifiable information shared through social media may decrease the opportunity for identity theft

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 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.