Informative Essay: What Is Identity Theft?

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

Identity theft is when someone, without the consent of the owner, dishonestly uses, or intends to fraudulently use another individual’s personal identity. Personal identifying information can consist of an individual’s name, date of birth, driver’s license number, mother’s maiden name, state identification number, telephone number and other personal information that an individual can be identified with, such as a birth certificate or Social Security number. People who commits this form of fraud is committing a third-degree felony. Proceeding through the system as a victim of identity theft can be an extensive and confusing process. It is important for individuals to keep track of the actions they take and retain a record of their progress, as they contact law enforcement, financial institutions and creditors. If individuals make any decisions regarding their case or decide to talk to investigators without counsel’s advice, they may hurt their opportunity to defend themselves against any identity theft charges.

Introduction: Your heart pounding, hands shaking, body quivering. To the regular public, this may sound like a medical emergency. But, to identity theft victims, it’s their lives shattered, pieces broken! Identity Theft includes the utilization of another person’s valuable information such as driver’s license number, social security number, and even social media passwords. Such a crime impacts someone’s finances and even reputation.

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

Identity theft is a crime in which an impostor obtains key pieces of personal identifying information (PII) such as Name, Email address, password, credit card and Social Security numbers (SSN) and uses them for their own personal gain like using identity to obtain credit, goods and services, posing as another person when apprehended for a crime.

Once someone else gets your personal information, they can create tax fraud, bank fraud, financial fraud, credit card fraud, and benefits fraud, just to name a few. Likewise, a person can find themselves burdened with debt and they must go through the process of proving the debt is not theirs, however that might prove to be very difficult. As fast as technology develops, identity thieves search for advanced methods of stealing information, however it is almost impossible to completely stop identity theft. Thus, soon as someone discovers that their identity has been stolen they should contact all credit bureaus and place a fraud alert, contact their financial institution and do the same, file a police report, and if a credit card was stolen contact the credit card institution and report the fraud, to name a few. In addition, a person can also contact the Federal Trade Commission, and the IRS to inform them of the fraud (Solove,

They estimate that as many as 9 million Americans have had their identities stolen each year. In fact, it is said that you or someone you know may have experienced some form of identity theft. The crime takes many forms. Identity thieves may rent an apartment, obtain a credit card, or establish a telephone account in your name. You may not find out about the theft until you review your credit report or a credit card statement and notice charges you didn’t make—or until a debt collector contacts you.

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

When credit card fraud is committed, attackers may make fraudulent purchases under someone else’s identity. This poses a risk to an unsuspecting victims’ credit scores, personal bank accounts, and social standing. According to the Federal Trade Commission, there were 332,646 reported cases of identity theft in 2014. The state of Florida had the highest reported cases of identity theft nationwide (Mayfield, 2015). As a result of this crime, many individuals have to deal with recovering from compromised credit, finances, and personal status.

Identity theft, the fraudulent acquisition and use of a person’s private identifying information, commonly seen in a financial gain or in a way to get money. An identity thief usually will find various ways to take the identity of a random person and say that they are that certain person. Ways that thieves steal other people’s identities is by hacking into personal computers where there people have their personal information stored in files. Also, thieves trick people into getting a job or an apartment and they get fooled by giving their personal information for example giving away their social security number or even giving them their debit card number. Some people even take away wallets or purses where there are some sort of personal information

The purpose of this paper is to inform on what identity theft is and how technology plays its role in identity theft. I feel as if this is an important matter that should be discussed and people should know about this. So I’m going to go into depth with what it is. I’m going to tell you how technology plays into it so, you should know if it has occurred to you. It 's going to also show what you can do to prevent identity theft happening to you.

Identity Theft is a severe and important issue that needs more recognizing than is currently has now. Identity Theft is when mean people go around and try to steal your Identity. If they are successful and have stolen your identity they can buy items and you will be charged. They can also ruin your credit history and reputation with your Identity. Identity theft happens every day and many people are affected daily. If your identity gets stolen it may take years to get all your stuff back. It may even cost you money to fix it! This will tell you everything you need to know about Identity Theft and hopefully we can put a stop to it.

Credit card theft is a serious crime that many people suffer from each year. It is the act of someone’s credit card being stolen and used by another person without the cardholders permission. The credit card theft offense is getting more recognized each year. This crime affects both the criminal and the victim.The criminal, who is well aware of the crime anyway, is putting themselves in serious danger with the law. Whoever commits credit card theft and pleads guilty can serve up to 20 years in a state correctional institute with a maximum fine of $2,500.

There are also ATM’s in every corner you see. Identity thieves are becoming more technological. They can steal your credit and debit card information just by inserting your card when you pay or want to use the ATM. One way they can steal your credit card information without you even realizing is using a Skimmer device. According to pcmag.com, “Skimmers are essentially malicious card readers that grab the data off the card's magnetic strip attached to the real payment terminals so that they can harvest data from every person that swipes their cards.” Identity thieves can place these skimmers in any ATM or credit card reader and they don’t prevent them from functioning properly. Some places this could happen are at gas stations, outdoor ATM’s, or grocery stores. Some tips for chances to avoid a skimmer are to use cash whenever possible. Some indoor ATM’s are safer than outdoor ones. . The ATMs inside banks are generally safer because of all the cameras. It would be unlikely for thieves to install a skimmer inside a bank with all the cameras inside the

Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes. There is very little you can do to prevent it, and you won’t know it’s happened to you until it is too late. Identity theft is currently the fastest growing crime around the world specifically Canada and the United States. The purpose of this paper will be to fully describe identity theft. It will be examined through the discussion on what identity theft is followed by the different kinds of identity theft. It will further explore the role of technology in aiding combatting identity theft and how identity thieves use victims’ personal information. Finally, this paper will then demonstrate the law enforcement response to identity theft leading to the legislation that has been enacted in Canada and the United