Why is identity theft a growing crime in today’s society? Compared to the start of the 1900s; currently it is difficult to find someone who does not utilize technology in their day to day life. Using technology, especially the internet has become a necessity for everyone. But because of the rising need, people do not realize the dangers associated with technology. Therefore, due to the inevitability of someone needing to use technology, criminals had been able to find targets that are easy to exploit and steal personal identifiable information from to commit identity theft. Some of the issues that should be considered when thinking about identity theft are; how the crime could happen, what kind of impact it makes and what can be done to protect …show more content…
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
Identity theft is the stealing and use of someone’s personal information and is one of the fastest growing crimes in the nation (Dole, 2005). According to Federal Trade Commission estimates, identity thieves victimize approximately 10 million Americans every year at a cost of an astonishing $50 billion (2005). Identity theft has been going on for years now and is easily done with the help of today’s technology. According to the Federal Trade Commission, there are six common ways that identity thieves get a hold of personal information. The varieties of methods that are used are dumpster diving, skimming, phishing, changing the victim’s address, stealing, and pretexting (Federal Trade Commission). Once someone’s identity is stolen,
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.
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
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
In recent years, the world has seen significant changes in technology. With new technology come new challenges. One of those new challenges is identity theft. Identity theft can happen through the internet, ATM, emails, or even a phone. Identity theft can happen when any person(s) takes an individual’s information, such as their Social Security number, or even banking information for financial gain. “Close to 100 million Americans have their personal information placed at risk of theft each year when records in databases are lost, stolen or accessed by unauthorized individuals” (Information systems and technology, n.d.). Identity theft not only costs the person, whose
In American society, there a fast growing white-collar crime that is becoming more and more popular among criminals. This white collar crime is call identity theft. Thousands of people have their identities stolen every year. Identity theft happen when criminals get a hold and use other people persona information such as credit card numbers, bank accounts numbers, insurance information and social security number to purchase good and other services fraudulently. More than 9 million American are victimizes by identity theft each year. With this number being so high it is evident that identity theft is one of the fast- growing crimes to hit the United State. Three reason why identify theft if being such a fast- growing crime in the United State is because more people credit card information is being stolen, more people are shopping online and more medical information is being stolen.
Identity theft is said to be one of the fasting growing crimes in America. According to our textbook, the lifestyle exposure theory, explains the different levels of exposure risk and how some people are exposed to higher risk than others depending on their lifestyle. Identity theft or fraud is when someone takes illegal actions and steal someone’s personal information to gain something from it. The theft can gain access to demographic information easily from the internet to get your name, email address, telephone number, birthday, and even your physical address (Archer, 2012).
Identity theft involves gathering valuable information retaining to an individual in order to make a financial gain out of the process. This’ll usually involve the attacker having to open a bank account in the victim’s name and ask for a new credit card for the account. They can then withdraw as much money as they please from the account before the victim can do anything. In 2014, 47% of American adults had their personal information stolen by hackers making identity theft the largest cybercrime to date. According to the U.S Justice Department, every 3 seconds someone becomes a victim of identity theft. Over $18 billion had been stolen as a result. Identity theft comes from hackers or scammers either convincing victims into giving up personal
Identity theft is a prevalent issue in society, especially amongst college students. College students are often considered easy targets because of their lack of knowledge on the issue, risky behavior, and excessive use of social media and the Internet. There are multiple ways that identity theft can occur. The average citizen doesn’t easily recognize some of these ways. This white-collar crime is extremely common and affects a large number of people each year. Education on this topic can help college students recognize the
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).
In today's society, there is a white-collar crime that has greatly risen in popularity among criminals. This crime is identity theft. Hundreds of thousands of people have their identities stolen each year. Identity theft is when these criminals obtain and use consumers personal information such as credit card numbers, bank account numbers, insurance information, and social security numbers to purchase goods or services fraudulently. According to the Federal Trade Commission, over 1.1 million people were the victim of identity theft. With this number, it is very evident that identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in our country. This paper will attempt to more thoroughly define identity theft. It will
A. Summary: Now that you are armed with more knowledge of how to protect yourself, and take action, you can make identity thieves’ jobs more difficult.
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
The United States Department of Justice defines Identity Theft and Fraud as, “… terms used to refer to all types of crime in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person's personal data in some way that involves fraud or deception, typically for economic gain” (U.S. Department of Justice, 2012). An individual’s personal data such as: Social Security number, bank account information, credit card numbers, or telephone calling card number¬ may be used by criminals to personally profit at your expense. In many cases, a victim's loss not only includes out-of-pocket financial losses, but substantial additional financial costs and time repairing and correcting credit histories and erroneous information. To assist with my research for this paper, I chose two books written from different perspectives. First, I sought out a book to provide a comprehensive review of identity theft history; methods used to steal identities, consequences of having your identity stolen, and prevention techniques from an individual or business perspective. Next, after developing a strong baseline on identity theft, I searched for a reference book which offers a comprehensive review of the concepts of computer crimes, relevant laws, and methods practiced by investigators to trace, capture and persecute identity theft