Is Identity Theft Or Having Credit Card Or Banking Information Stolen?

While identity theft was present in society previous to the appearance of the internet, this medium has provided thieves with an intriguing method to steal identities from people without even having to leave their house. "Today, more and more people engage in online financial activities such as shopping, banking, investing, and bill paying." (Understanding Identity Theft) While this reflects positively on people's lives by saving them significant time, it also exposes them to a world of

Just in the last decade, there has been a 29% increase in crimes committed against residents and a 22% increase for business losses due to online crimes (Meyer). Another large issue with technology is that they monitor an individualś every move, for example, a phone company, AT&T, was monitoring their customers phones to be able to “use your individual Web browsing information, like the search terms you enter and the Web pages you visit, to tailor ads and offers to your interests” (Silverman 282). Although the increase in such crimes can potentially cause many issues and obstacles for an individual, they do not physically harm anyone. Such crimes as internet fraud and any other crime that can be committed online, are all fixable and can be prevented. There are security systems that can help protect against frauds and prevent any more from occurring, which makes this issue much less crucial to stop. It is also possible to contact police and bankers to stop this from occurring and they can help you regain all of your losses. The government also has the NSA, the National Security Agency, to monitor all internet movements, which helps stop many of these issues. New technology has helped prevent an immense amount of street crimes, that without the internet, would have only continued to rise, while millions of people would have continued to be murdered.

Many users are subject of Security and Privacy on the Internet issue. The term "information" now is more used when defining a special product or article of trade which could be bought, sold, exchanged, etc. Often the price of information is higher many times than the cost of the very computers and technologies where it is functioning. Naturally it raises the need of protecting information from unauthorized access, theft, destruction, and other crimes. However, many users do not realize that they risk their security and privacy online.

The evolution of technology has enabled criminals a new form of prey. This problem is known as identity theft or identity fraud. The development and growth of the world wide web and personal computers being have made everyday things easier for everyone, but have also made it easier for criminals to gain access to information needed to steel someone’s identity. This is a crime which cost people thousands of dollars and countless hours of time spent to regain their losses and the damages done by having their life turned upside down by identity theft. Albrecht(2016). This paper will discuss just how big of a problem identity theft is, a few of the typical types of identity theft, possible preventative actions that should be taken to avoid identity theft, and the actions a person having identity stolen should take once they realize they have been compromised. The main thing that seems to have to be done is preventative measures by both the potential victims and creditors to keep information private so thieves cannot get the access in the first place. The more difficult that you make it to get to your information the less likely you are going to be victimized. Albrecht(2016).

Stealing an identity is becoming increasingly easy due to technological advancements, but this crime does still happen using traditional methods. People don’t even think about identity theft until it’s usually too late. With the proper education, most ID theft cases can be prevented, but the methods of how it occurs need to be understood first. Personal information is frequently obtained from social media sites and online purchases. A study done by the University of Missouri-Columbia concluded that almost 30% of college students can’t identify a secure website (Norum & Weagley, 2006, p. 54). For presumably being the most tech savvy generation, that statistic is shockingly high. Not being able to recognize a secure site from an unsecure one increases the risk of having credit card numbers, names, and addresses stolen while making online transactions.

The agencies employed by governments to police the web in order to protect the vulnerable have seen an increase in child pornography and online fraud. The speed at which information can be distributed and the number of people that can be reached attracts those that are intent on causing harm. The term “cybercrime” is becoming more widely used. The financial gains that can be made and the anonymity the internet can provide, make the virtual world of cyberspace a haven for criminals. Although the internet has huge benefits for information gathering and social networking, in the wrong hands it can cause harm to the vulnerable and criminals are able to vanish into the underground with the use of false identities that are hard to track online.

Cyber Crime is described as criminal activity committed via use of electronic communications with respect to cyber fraud or identity theft through phishing and spoofing. There are many other forms of cyber-crime also such as harassment, pornography etc. via use of information technology.

In today’s world where computers, cellular phones, wireless internet connections and electronic transactions are common place norms, maintaining ones identity can be a challenge. In 2012 the United States population was 314.1 million people, in the same year, 75.6 percent of households reported having a computer. (Government Census, 2012) With this high population and electronic use, one could extrapolate that there is high risk for computer fraud and identity theft. For example consider these statistics in 2013, identity theft complaints accounted for 14% of all complaints. The most common form of reported identity theft was government documents/benefits fraud, 34%, followed by credit card fraud, 17%, phone or utilities fraud, 14%, and bank fraud, 8%. Forty-one percent of identity theft complainants reported whether they contacted law enforcement. Of those victims, 74% notified a police department and 61% indicated a report was taken. (Government Census, 2012) There are many ways to counter identity theft, some being not to give out personal data or to make sure to properly destroy/secure all important documentation. These methods of protection seem quite feasible and often time practical, however with the rate at which identity theft occurs the validity of these protections might come into question. Therefore this research proposal begs the questions of how effective are these counter measures, to what degree are the counter measures followed by the victims, and

Internet privacy is the security of a user’s personal data that is stored or published on the internet. The internet is an important part of every individual’s daily life. In today’s society, the internet is used by many different people for many reasons. It can be used for research, communication, and purchasing items. Without the internet, many things that are completed during the course of a day would be impossible or take time to complete. As people use the internet, everything is stored in a database that tracks and keeps any personal information that is entered by users. As users continue to use the internet to complete important tasks such as purchasing items and paying bills, their privacy and security become at risk. Although the internet can be seen to have a positive impact on society, it does have a negative impact. Since the internet can be accessed by anybody it can cause a lot of damage. Examples of internet risk include identity thieves, phasing, and scams. Due to things such as online shopping, banking and other e-commerce options, personal information is stored in the internet enabling many cybercrimes to occur. Cybercrimes are very similar to any regular crime; the crime just happens to take place on websites for criminals to hack and steal user’s information for their own personal benefit. Cybercriminals tend to attack users based on their emails, social media accounts, and web history because the most history about an individual is stored in those sites.

In today’s world, we are all in some way connected to or involved with the internet. We all use different services that we feel either enrich our lives or make them more enjoyable every day, from email to FaceBook, MySpace, and e-commerce. We all take a sort of false comfort in the basic anonymity of the internet; however, when we think about it, that could end up being the single biggest risk to our own safety today. When we typically think of crimes committed against us, we could probably name several: mugging, theft, scams, murder, and rape. For these, things we all take as many necessary steps as we can to help lower the chances of them happening to us because they are on the forefront of our minds. However, most of us don’t take the

Cybercrime we have when a computer is the object of the crime like hacking, phishing, spamming or is used as a tool to commit an offense like the child pornography, hate crimes etc.

Cyber crime is defined as any crime that involves a computer and network. Individuals, businesses and government agencies around the world constantly face threats to their medical information, consumer data, as well as company trade information and military decisions. Cyber security specialists are professionals that are specifically trained to protect individuals and organizations from cyber crime, hackers and scammers.

Cyber stalking, Identity theft and fraud are some of the most common cyber-crimes. Anyone could be a victim of these types of crimes; the crimes could target small amounts of money and up to millions of dollars and they also target information that could be useful to cause harm to an individual or to an organization.

Cybercrime is one way of exampling a bad way of using the internet as a form of communication. Cybercrime is a way of using the internet to do crimes.

The Internet is an amazing and intimidating place.It can help make your dreams come true and it can manifest your worst nightmares.It is a global phenomenon and encompasses all aspects of modern day life from shopping to communicating off world.We use it as readily as the telephone or the car.In the click of a mouse you can order a shirt from a clothing store, buy a book and have it delivered to your door or book a vacation.This colossal convenience comes with an equally impressive responsibility.The potential for crime is directly proportional to this speed and convenience.Modern day muggers use the Internet to make off with your money and be long gone before you even know that anything is wrong.The only good thing