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Identity Theft
By
Name
American Public University System, October 12, 2018
Charles Town, West Virginia
Name, Thesis Professor
Identity theft can be defined as the use of someone else’s identity deliberately normally as a way to gain credit or obtain financial benefits in the other individual’s name, and probably to disadvantage the other individual. Adverse consequences may be experienced by the individual whose identity has been used. In the United Kingdom the identity theft has become rampant, since identity theft criminals have discovered better ways to obtain personal information which help them to steal another person’s identity. Many times it does not involve fraudsters taking another person’s information unauthorized but it involves acquiring this information and using it for their personal gain. Even though fraudsters have discovered new ways to steal information, identity theft can be reduced by being careful with your privacy settings on social media and being alert of distrustful emails which may be looking for data.
Whenever a fraudster gets access to your personal information, and then uses it without your consent for their benefits, it can be considered to be identity theft. Even the smallest piece of information that may seem to be harmless such as your birth date may be used by fraudsters to commit identity theft. Many companies around the world will ask for your birth date as part of their process of verification. Therefore having this information, criminals may be able to easily access other important information about you. Once they obtain this information they can use it to execute several crimes which may include benefit fraud, credit card fraud, tax rebate fraud, telecommunication fraud and bank fraud. Fraudsters can actually use your name or identity to commit any other imaginable crime (Baase, 2012).
Nowadays it’s very difficult to prevent identity theft. In fact it’s harder than avoiding a Kardashian on TV. Actually, there's extremely no real way to ensure that you'll never be a casualty of identity theft. The good news is that you can reduce the risk by taking steps to ensure that you are alert immediately you get targeted. According to the resource center of identity theft, averagely everyday there were four data breaches in the year 2017.Most likely as we talk your data is already tempered with. Some of the ways you can reduce identity theft include, avoiding clicking on links you are not sure of, protecting your mail box, creating strong passwords, using two factor authentications, monitoring billing cycles, monitoring your online accounts and many other similar ways (Finklea, 2010).
You need to very careful in social media especially when clicking on links you are not sure of. Identity theft criminals know how to attract your attention more so by sending you emails which look like they are from people you may know or even organizations. Don’t click on a link when they ask you to, if something about the email seems to be off. Rather, use your mouse to roll over the link so that you can be able to see the URL destination your information will be send to. This is a more secure methodology and can enable you to maintain a strategic distance from malware, phishing tricks or infections to accumulate your information (Reyns, 2013). You can always warn the organization to warn other users if it turns to be fraudulent.
It is also important to consider purchasing an identity theft protection. Protection plans for identity protection go beyond monitoring of credits and can help you to solve any issue once it arises (LoPucki, 2001). There are several recommended steps you can take to protect your information if you think you’ve been a casualty of identity theft, but they depend on the nature of the crime committed against you. For instance if your credit card has been stolen, your course of action will differ with that you would take if a new credit card was opened with your name. The solution would also be different if someone used your name to get a tax fraud.
Identity theft can be reduced significantly by using the above mentioned methods. Most people fall victims because of lack of knowledge. However if people can understand the importance of securing their information especially online then this instances of identity theft can reduce by far.
Table of Contents
Copyright Page …………………………………………………………………………….. Ii
Declaration ……………………………………………………………………….………... iii
Acknowledgments …………………………………………………………………………. IV
Abstract …………………………………………………………………………..………… V
Table Of Contents …………………………………………………………………………...Vi
List of Tables ………………………………………………………………………………. ix
List of Figures ……………………………………………………………………………… x
CHAPTER 1
Introduction……………..………………………….……………………………….………. 1
Problem Statement …………………………………………………………………………. 2
Purpose ………………………………………… ………………………………………… 2
Hypotheses …………………………………………...…………………………………….. 2
Significance of the Study ………………………………….………………………………... 3
CHAPTER 2
Literature Review…………..……………………………………..……………………….. ..4
CHAPTER 3
Methodology…………………………………………………….………………………… 15
CHAPTER 4
Results……………………………………………………….…………………………….. 25
CHAPTER 5
Discussion and Conclusion .……………………………………………………….………. 35
CHAPTER 6
Summary ………………………………………………………………………………….. 42
CHAPTER 7
Recommendations …………………………………………………………….………….. 44
List of References …………………………………………………………………….…... 45
Appendices……………………………………………………….………………………... 47
Appendix A: Survey Questions……………………………………………………………. 50
Appendix B: Survey Summary …………………………………………………………….54
References
Lai, F., Li, D., & Hsieh, C. T. (2012). Fighting identity theft: The coping perspective. Decision Support Systems, 52(2), 353-363.
Finklea, K. M. (2010). Identity theft: Trends and issues. DIANE Publishing.
LoPucki, L. M. (2001). Human identification theory and the identity theft problem. Tex. L. Rev., 80, 89.
Bilge, L., Strufe, T., Balzarotti, D., & Kirda, E. (2009, April). All your contacts are belong to us: automated identity theft attacks on social networks. In Proceedings of the 18th international conference on World wide web (pp. 551-560). ACM.
Chou, N., Ledesma, R., Teraguchi, Y., & Mitchell, J. C. (2004, February). Client-Side Defense Against Web-Based Identity Theft. In NDSS.
Romanosky, S., Telang, R., & Acquisti, A. (2011). Do data breach disclosure laws reduce identity theft?. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 30(2), 256-286.
Baase, S. (2012). A gift of fire. Pearson Education Limited.
Jakobsson, M., & Myers, S. (Eds.). (2006). Phishing and countermeasures: understanding the increasing problem of electronic identity theft. John Wiley & Sons.
Kirkland, D. C., & Kumhyr, D. B. (2009). U.S. Patent No. 7,548,886. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Saunders, K. M., & Zucker, B. (1999). Counteracting identity fraud in the information age: The Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act. International Review of Law, Computers & Technology, 13(2), 183-192.
Shadden, B. (2005). Aphasia as identity theft: Theory and practice. Aphasiology, 19(3-5), 211-223.
Lu, H. K., & Ali, A. M. (2008). U.S. Patent No. 7,392,534. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Sharp, T., Shreve-Neiger, A., Fremouw, W., Kane, J., & Hutton, S. (2003). Exploring the psychological and somatic impact of identity theft. Journal of Forensic Science, 49(1), 1-6.
Solove, D. J. (2002). Identity theft, privacy, and the architecture of vulnerability. Hastings Lj, 54, 1227.
Reyns, B. W. (2013). Online routines and identity theft victimization: Further expanding routine activity theory beyond direct-contact offenses. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 50(2), 216-238.
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