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Identity theft refers to the unauthorized use of another person's information to make purchases or transactions. There are so many ways in which identity theft can be committed. Some fraudsters look for credit cards and bank accounts by sifting through trash bins. There are however other high technology methods which involve stealing of customer information by illegally accessing organizations’ databases. There are several types of identity theft which include child, financial, medical and criminal identity theft. Identity theft has become rampant in the United States of America primarily because of the development of high technology (Lai et al., 2012). Although identity thieves have discovered new ways to steal your data, it is possible to significantly reduce the threat by being alert while using social media and being more careful when replying new emails.

Once identity thieves get hold of your personal information they can use it for their gain. This could be committing other crimes such as drug trafficking, laundering money, smuggling substances, entering a country and many other crimes. These fraudsters can use your identity to determine any possible offence. There are several severe and significant consequences for victims of identity theft even though none of the individual's personal information may have been taken. Police can put you under suspicion if your identity has been used to commit a crime. It may be complicated for the victims to prove their innocence if the police investigate them.

There are also so many issues concerning victims of financial fraud. You could end up in huge debts if someone uses your identity to do any monetary transaction. If the obligations are not your responsibility and you can prove it, then the liability for them will not be imposed on you. However, it is always challenging in such a case to prove your innocence (Finklea, 2010). Even if you can show your virginity, it becomes harder to clear incorrect information from your credit card. Credit agencies mandated to get rid of this information are very slow. You may get rejected for several credit opportunities by the time they correct the information in your credit card.

These rejections may significantly affect the credit decision of those people who may be doing a credit check on you in the future. If you are in such a situation, it would be tough for you to get a loan, a new credit card or even a mortgage. It also becomes tricky sometimes for such victims to get a new phone contract. This makes it very important to spot such a fraud as early as possible. Usually, identity thieves do not physically harm the victims not unless there are issues to do with mugging and physical robbery. If you happen to be a victim of physical theft, this may leave you influenced both physically and mentally. If so then an unfortunate victim may have no say in the information that they could make criminal damage guarantee the responsibility (Bilge et al., 2009, April).

There are several ways in which we can reduce identity theft. First, you should not give anyone your information. Many identity thieves and scammers will pretend to be representatives for local business, charity and bank or even debt collectors to convince you to give them your date of birth, street security number or social community number and any other personal information of interest. This scammer will try anything possible to convince you to give them your essential data including calling, sending emails and the like. Be vigilant to avoid falling victim of this scammer (Jakobsson & Myers, 2006).

You should also avoid clicking on those links that you don't trust their source. These Fraudsters can easily attract your attention by sending you emails that look like they are coming from individuals or organizations you know. When you come across such links avoid clicking them by all means possible. Instead, it is recommended that you should roll your mouse over the link so that you can be able to view the URL destination you will be directed to. This methodology is more secure and can enable you to evade malware, phishing tricks, infections or malware to assemble your data. If it turns out its phony, you can tell the business, so they caution others.

Identity theft threat can also be reduced by creating strong passwords and monitoring your online accounts. If you have accounts in multiple sites, it is essential to use a different password for each. You should also set up account notifications from those financial organizations you usually do business with. These notifications should also be set differently for the multiple accounts. Remaining up and coming on changes to your records is critical and a brisk notice sent to your brilliant gadget can have a significant effect in keeping up true serenity. There are additionally a lot of items out there that give credit and personality checking (Baase, 2012).

Your mobile devices including your mobile phones and laptops should be protected with passwords. Mobile phones contain a lot of your personal information and therefore failed to protect them exposes you to a massive risk of identity theft. You can protect your device using two-factor identification and keeping its software updated. Always make sure that you've turned off your Bluetooth when not in use. It is also possible for others to see your data when you are using public WI-FI. Therefore, you need to be careful when downloading files since they may contain malware.

We will use several data collection methods for this research. They include observation, interviews, questionnaires and surveys, documents and records. A view is an excellent source to provide additional information for the analysis. It gives a platform for the study of frequency counts on target behavior, situation dynamics and other research requirements. It produces both quantitative and qualitative data. Interviews will be conducted through inquiry. We will use both structured and open discussions. Structured interviews are essential since they are based on personal opinions. The meetings will be performed either in person or through the telephone. The questions involved will be apparent, focused and will encourage open-ended response (Romanosky et al., 2011).

We will also use questionnaires for this research. The inquiries will be in both multiple choices and open-ended. After they are filled, they can either be delivered to our designated collection centers or send by email. To maximize their return rates, we will make sure that they are as clear and straightforward as possible. Results from questionnaires are always easy to analyses, and also Pretests/Posttests can be compared and analyzed. Documents and record will involve examining existing information on meeting minutes, newsletters, financial files, attendance logs, report and databases. This would help us study the history of our target group LoPucki, 2001).

After data collection, we will proceed to conduct its analysis. Some of the methods we will use for the review include regression Analysis, Hypotheses testing; content analysis and narrative analysis. Regression analysis is instrumental when it comes to predicting the future from the results of the study. It will help us measure the relationships between independent and depended variables. It will also help us uncover sections that can be optimized. We will also test the hypothesis. This will help us compare the data obtained in the research against our initial assumption. In this case, we will be able to find out whether being alert of suspicious emails can reduce identity theft.

Content analysis will involve techniques such as color coding for specific themes. It will help us understand the overall trend in the qualitative data. It is an efficient method, especially when dealing with open-ended surveys, questionnaire and interview data. Lastly, we will also use narrative analysis. This will help us understand the culture of the organizations of the research interest. It will mainly only focus on how ideas and stories are communicated throughout the organization. This will include employee's satisfaction, customer perceptions about the organization and how processes of operation are viewed. It tends to be helpful while mulling over changes to corporate culture or arranging new promoting systems (Kirkland & Kumhyr, 2009).

This analysis will help us interpret the data and make recommendations. While interviewing the employees for a specific organization, we may analyze the organization. Employees who are satisfied with their jobs are aware of identity theft and will do everything possible to avoid falling victims. Those employees who are not happy with their jobs will not be cautious, and therefore they may end up being victims. Hypothesis testing should enable us to come up with a conclusion for our research. If our assumptions match the final findings, then we will have achieved our research objectives, and we can proceed to recommend the various ways in which we can reduce identity theft.

We expect the results of this research to confirm that it is possible to significantly reduce the threat by being alert while using social media and being more careful when replying new emails. Its outcome should also show that identity theft can be reduced by the various methods outlined in this paper

Identity theft can be regarded as the crime from which a person acquires if another person's personal information or even financial details. This is often accompanied by an evil intent of taking or in short assuming the secret identity of a different person through their use. Such use may include executing various transactions or even making purchases using other people's information or status. Identity theft may regard entirely be implemented through different means across the whole world. Most cases of identity theft as mentioned above are mostly deliberate are done within identity criminals with the intent of conducting evil businesses in the name of the victimized persons. Besides, various illegal methods are utilized in obtaining the personal identity of another individual through the identity theft (Ron, 2013); most victims who fall under the culprits of identity theft merger from well off or upper-class family where the criminals may utilize the better wealth of their respective victims.

There are various and diverse ways in which the identification of the individual may be achieved as well as their identity operationalization. Generally, identity theft occurs when the unauthorized individual acquires your personal information through a personal identification means such as your name, address, social security number commonly abbreviated as SSN (Anna, 2013). Despite the presence of high rates of cases that relate with the identity theft, there have been counted number of information which is necessarily known concerning the individuals who may indulge themselves in such a type of crime. This, therefore, implies that there is minimal data found by the authorities that may help analyze such identity theft crimes in the world. Nevertheless, such information ought to be utilized efficiently in terminating these kinds of criminals in the world.

The variables concerned in this particular study include the data of people who have been suffering under the suffrage of identity theft throughout the world. Despite lack of enough evidence to literally and practically personalize such individuals, there is still hope that if the victims revealed their encounters with such people, their sources might significantly help in escalating the core potholes of these criminals hence sentencing them appropriately (Robert, 2016). The measurements of the statistics used to analyze these studies were obtained from a world perspective. The calibrations used to determine the victims of the identity theft were extracted from the realism perspective of the individual view.

The sampling plan of the study was acquired from the American population. Here, the study team interviewed various victims in the United States of America who had suffered the victimization of identity theft. The sampling plan could be based on the information released by the 2018 Identity Fraud. The identity theft according to this nutshell of Identity Fraud enters the new era of complexity from Javelin Strategy & Research which was conducted in 2017. The research outlines that around 16.7 million individuals were declared victims of identity fraud. This record of the population was higher than the previous record which was accounted in the year 2016. According to this population study, it is prevalent to conclude that these identity theft criminals engage themselves in complex identity fraud schemes which may be regarded to have optimal record figures of victims in their wake within this respective field. This population figure may be numerically analyzed to be 30% of the United States consumers were identified out of data breach in last year showing an increase of 12% from 2016 (Simon, 2018).

From the above population study, it is evident that identity theft has hit the attention of the United States of America. This has emerged from the fact that this phenomenon has become a rampant computer crime in the United States of America. This has made this thematic issue to become an economic crisis. Through a statistical assessment which was recently executed, there are various cases of individuals having fallen under the trap of identity theft. These have been essentially denoted from the recently reported cases of identity theft (Earl & Michael, 2014). Despite so many lawsuits being filed, less concentration on the identity theft has been put on this separate issue across the world. This, therefore, exhibits the primary reason why individuals are still becoming victims of identity theft in day-to-day living.

The consumer sentinel network which has been maintained by the Federal Trade Commission. This secondary source generally keeps the trace of the consumer fraud as well as the identity theft grumbles that have been arising all over the world. The complaints highlighted in this consumer sentinel network generally get assorted by the federal, state as well as local law enforcement agencies as well as some of the private organization. Such secondary sources can be substantially utilized as the secondary collections within this prospective study of identity theft across the whole world (Herth, 2014). Cyber-crime agencies have also been used in exhibiting the secondary group of information that is needed to manifest the identity theft suffrage of the respective victims under question. These cybercrime organizations include McAfee as well as the center for strategic and international studies.

As mentioned above the procedures consumed in analyzing this study were both primary as well as secondary depending on the terms utilized for identification of the required data. The secondary analysis was overwhelmed from the above identity theft agencies that are used to analyze the extent of identity theft in the whole world. Also, the primary information was also assessed in this particular survey. Here, the various victims of identity theft were accessed and questioned on their grievances concerning their respective personal experience with identity theft. Such extraction of information helped boost the already acquired secondary data on the thematic issue hence emerging with the relevant and valid conclusion of the cases of identity theft (Heather, 2017).

In this individual study, there are various shortcomings of the research study that were experienced in the overall research. Necessarily, many limitations were encountered concerning the design methodology which greatly influenced the interpretation of the perspective findings within this research study. Some of the quantitative research design shortcomings that were experienced include the fact that there was no statistical significance outcome from the rich people who had suffered under the victimization of the identity theft as they did not see a significant difference in leverage of their wealth from their own experience (John, 2014). Such shortcomings may have signed the conclusion of the research findings. Nevertheless, the findings arrived at should be utilized to mitigate some of these cases of identity theft.

Completing this project will give us an opportunity to show that they have mastered the necessary skills require for advanced studies and professional requirements. With this, a student will be able to show off what he or she can do even without work experience (Bunton, 2014). Since the project shows all the research that the student has done and the findings, anyone looking at it will be able to see exactly what his or her area of study was dealing with. Having in mind that the project is the student owns work which has zero plagiarism and therefore it will be seen that the student knows exactly what he was studying and he has the necessary skills to engage in a professional area requiring those particular skills.

Besides, it will complement the knowledge that the student has on the particular course that he or she is taking. While doing the research, the student gets to learn more about the path they are undertaking, (Danese, Manfè & Romano, 2018). They will gain a deeper understanding of that particular course and can be able to relate it with severally practical instances. It will also help one to be able to know how to apply whatever it is they have been learning theoretically in real life instances. This is because research involves gathering enough proof from primary sources, which includes one's first-hand data and secondary sources, that is, books, articles etcetera, and testing the data and making conclusions following the findings.

It will also help the student to be able to conduct more considerable research in future. Different research firms require one to do research on a sure thing, for example, the reason behind political instability in an individual country for a period of letting us say twenty years. This kind of research will require one to have some background in research. This is because one will need to have done research actually to know how to be able to go about it. This is why it is crucial for someone to do this project. Since learning gives one the know-how required in professional fields, doing the project completes the primary purpose of one undertaking a course. It acts like the practical part of the course.

Everything that has a beginning sure has an end. That includes any course anyone takes. Completing a thesis literature review will mark the end of the direction a student is making, and it will be now up to him or her to proceed to work in their desired profession or to further their education. This is because a project is among the last things a person does and it requires one to have perfect knowledge in their course since the culture is what steers one into yielding a project that is of quality. Having done the project, nothing more is expected of the student from that course, and therefore they can be able to proceed with any other thing they please to indulge in.

Identity theft is the act of impersonating someone with the aim of gaining a financial benefit or any other gains using that other person's identity. The student wants to find out what causes identity theft. Almost every human being, before they do anything, has a reason as to why they are doing that particular thing. From the research conducted, it can be concluded that people indulge in these malicious activities to gain financial benefits. It has been found out that most people that do identity fraud are people who are not financially stable or people who have low-income rates. These shows that these are persons of a low class who are looking for a way to get quick money, whether it is legally or illegally, and in this instance, they use an illegal channel since it is wrong to impersonate someone else.

The student also wishes to find out who are the primary victims of this distasteful act, identity theft. The research proves that a large number of people that have become victims of this rude behavior of identity theft are people of a high-class level. These are people who have financial status and some of the social state. The fraudsters gain economic benefits and other benefits from their victims which is their point of interest. It is very likely that the people who do identity theft believe that pretending to be a person with status will allow you to be open to so many opportunities and will help you meet well-connected people. This is because individuals from low class and middle class believe that wealthy persons are well connected.

The learners wanted to know preventive measures had been put in place to reduce and prevent any further identity theft cases from repeating itself. Therefore, the researchers investigated whether the respondents had preventive measures they the thought would reduce the rate of identity theft in the country. A large percentage agreed to have various measures as discussed below. Most cases of identity theft increase the losses because the time taken to respond to the problem is long. On this, the research suggested that police should be equipped with measures of receiving alerts of identity theft as immediate as possible when the victim discovers that their identity has been stolen. This measure will reduce or even prevent the offender from using the status that they have taken. Most of the victimized of identity theft did not report the cases of identity theft either to their bank or to the police. This is because of the reluctance of the police to investigate the case and the prospects of the offender using the stolen identity even after prosecution. Therefore, the study suggested that police should be educated on how to respond to all cases involving identity theft quickly.

The education would also help the police understand how to deal with cases of identity theft and prosecute the offenders. On the issue of repetitive victimization, the justice department should put in place severe punishment including the death penalty to discourage the offenders from using the stolen identities after their prosecution. Many respondents who had fallen victim of identity theft lacked knowledge of the risks associated with the loss. Most of this victim's identity was used after at least eight months after the information or document was lost. The public should be educated on the risks that come with identity loss and the need to report the incident to the police. Reporting the cases of identity theft early enough especially in the case where the offender plans to use the information after a long time, can be avoided. The police database is set up to realize any fraudulent activity like using an identification that does not match the individual; in person.

From the project, the student also hopes to find out whether the issue of identity fraud is reducing or increasing across the years. From the research that shows the survey that was done on a specific sampling frame, it can be seen that over the years the number of identity frauds has been increasing (Galvan & Galvan, 2017). This also was researched from previous cases that have been reported of that kind of fraud. It was found out that every year they record a higher number of identity fraud compared to the previous year. This shows that there is a very high probability that the more our technology advances, the more danger is posed to us since it makes it easier for random individuals to access our personal information illegally. This is because, as time goes by, it becomes easier to locate any information that you want only by feeding it to Google and everything you want is displayed on your screen.

The students wanted to know the types of identity theft that was in existence. Therefore they investigated the various types of identity theft from the available criminal reports that had been reported earlier. From the study that was conducted, results were given on the types of identity theft. Exploitation of technology weaknesses and loopholes in the information system; here the products that are used are credit cards. This is the typical type of identity theft. The study found out that 60% of the respondents had been involved in this type of theft. 5% of them agreed to be not aware of the identity theft, while 45% of the respondents had not experienced. People also decided to be aware and victims of financial scams. This type of fraud where a person may pretend to be doing a security check up and in the process steal the client's financial information. 35% of the respondents in the United States agreed to have been victims of this type of scam. 40% of the respondents had not experienced the kind of fraud with the remaining 25% having no idea of the fraud being in existence. On the motive of other related crimes, the study found out that the theft was in presence. However, people with stable financial backgrounds were the principal victims of this type of identity theft. In this type, a person with ulterior motive may follow the victim to their office or their home safe to steal their passwords which they later use to take from him. 20% of the respondents agreed to have experienced the type of theft. 70% of the respondents were aware of the kind of identity theft but were not victims leaving a 10% who had no idea of its existence. The different type of identity theft is the facilitation of other related crimes. In this type of identity theft, the documents of a person are stolen to be used in committing other crimes by the offenders. The reports may include birth certificate, driving license, social security number among others.

The research found out that 40% of the respondents were victims of this type of identity theft. 50% were aware of the robbery being in existence. However, they had no personal experience. The research also studied arrest avoidance identity theft. In this type of theft, the victim's identity documents are left on the crime scene which makes the police to follow the identity owner rather than tracking the actual perpetrator. From the research, 20% of the respondents were victims of the said theft. 70% were aware that it was existent even though they had not experienced it. Only 10% of the people were not aware of the existence of this type of theft. Repeat victimization is another type of identity theft. In this type, the offender opts to use the identity of the victim several times until it’s useless. The research looked into the existence of the kind of theft and found out that only 10% of the respondents were victims of the repeated identity theft. 75% of the respondents were aware of the case but not victims with only 15% being unaware of the fact. Organized identity theft; in this type of robbery, the offenders organize themselves in a group, and they divide their roles. The roles may be divided into the person responsible for victim location, planning, and execution. The research found out that 36% of the respondents had experienced victims. 60% were respondents had not experienced it although they were aware of it. 4% of the respondents agreed to be unaware of the theft.

The students wanted to know why the problem of identity theft was reducing at a slower pace. Therefore, the researchers examined the challenges that hinder the prosecution of identity theft cases. Lack of police training in handling identity theft crime related incidence had contributed to the failure of the situation. Lack of jurisprudence on who of the victims between the business owner and the identity owner should report the theft had a contribution to case failure; lack of proper knowledge to the public on whether to report the case of a credit card to the police or their financial institutions which contributed to the case failure.

The purpose of this project is also to find out what has been done about the subject at hand, (Ghisellini et al., 2018) for the researches show that so many cases have been reported on persons that impersonate others, the student wanted to know what measures have been taken to curb the issue at hand. It has been seen that the topic at hand has been increasing at an alarming rate. This shows that it's something that should be looked into keenly. Since most of the culprits get the information from the computer, it is therefore evident that safety measures should be taken to be able to curb this particular issue. When uploading crucial personal information, someone should also take great care not to post them in sites that do not assure security. Each person should be responsible when it comes to uploading important information in that; one should know the secure sites that they can trust and the insecure ones.

Lastly, the learner expects to know what happens to anyone who is charged with an offence of stealing someone else's identity. For an assault to be curbed entirely, there must be consequences of committing that particular offence. That will be able to restrain it since it will remove part of the fun and also it will make the people think twice before deciding to take part in that activity. A study shows that some people that have been found guilty of identity theft have been caught and are serving their sentence in jail, (Hart, C., 2018). Such an act serves as a warning to anyone who has any intentions of pretending to be another person with any purposes.

Therefore, by the end of the thesis literature review, the student will have found out which kind of individuals indulge in identity theft. He will also be able to identify the group of people that are typically targeted by these people. Moreover, he will be able to know the exact prevention measures that should be taken so as not to be one of the victims and lastly find out what happens to people who are found guilty of these charges.

Although there have been high rates of cases of identity theft tiny amount of information is known about the people who indulge in this type of crime. This paper has been researched to provide some information on the people who engage in this type of crime. To be able to accomplish this, various people have been evaluated and evaluated on their views regarding identity theft. The individuals who were interviewed have received sentencing and are serving their time in prison. The outcome has indicated that identity theft includes different people which include the low-level and the high-level people. The motivating factor which was singled out from the assessment is that the quick need of cash drove the people engaging in identity theft. They were able to use a different kind of techniques to be able to have access to the information which they were able to convert it to money. For example, they were able to buy information, steal the news, or even being able to access it from those individual people who own specific information (Andringa et al., 2018).

Through the development of different skills in computer science and computer technology; for example, the computer system skills, the fraudsters on identity theft were able to accomplish their mission with success. Through the findings of this paper, it can be recommended that having well tested situational crime prevention methods can be very useful through the process of trying to reduce the identity theft through the process of trying to increase the employed efforts. However, also through the findings in this paper, this method may become ineffective at some point, because crime offenders can discover a new way. Having an assessment from the crime offenders and basing that information, this sample has been developed which is purposed at trying to do away with the excuses which may result to the few cases of having identity theft.

In the United States of America, identity theft has been able to grab the attention of the country as it has sort to become a widespread economic a computer crime. Through the statistical analysis which have previously been conducted, there are many cases of people who have been complaining and have gone ahead to report the crimes. Although so many cases have been filed regarding the identity theft in a computer with the police, not much has been done to try to identify the how this fraud can be controlled with more effective computer methods. For this reason, I have come up with research that is meant for the examination of those people who have engaged in identity theft to try and understand their perspective why they do that. The primary goal and purpose if provide information on how the process identity theft is conducted and how those people think about the crimes which they commit. This will be essential in trying to build system policies which will be able to prevent identity theft and also to guide future research (Sullins, 2017).

The computer crime on identity theft has become the main criminal issues in the current society. It has also been projected that it could remain to be a big issue in the future. This because the statistics which continue to be recorded are rising each day because it has proven to be a big problem in being able to establish and find the people who commit these crimes. I think that the best way to avoid this kind of question is being cautious with a lot of personal information even when on the internet. The final results of this paper indicate that identity theft includes multiple types of people who are motivated because they want quick money through the identification of identity theft.

We will use several data collection methods for this research. They include observation, interviews, questionnaires and surveys, documents and records. Comment is an excellent source to provide additional information for the investigation. It gives a platform for the study of frequency counts on target behavior, situation dynamics and other research requirements. It produces both quantitative and qualitative data. Interviews will be conducted through inquiry. We will use both structured and open conversations. Structured interviews are essential since they are based on personal opinions. The meetings will be performed either in person or through the telephone. The questions involved will be apparent, focused and will encourage open-ended response (Romanosky et al., 2011).

We will also use questionnaires for this research. The inquiries will be in both multiple choices and open-ended. After they are filled, they can either be delivered to our designated collection centers or send by email. To maximize their return rates, we will make sure that they are as clear and straightforward as possible. Results from questionnaires are always easy to analyze, and also Pretests/Posttests can be compared and analyzed. Documents and record will involve examining existing information on meeting minutes, newsletters, financial files, attendance logs, report and databases. This would help us study the history of our target group LoPucki, 2001).

After data collection, we will proceed to conduct its analysis. Some of the methods we will use for the review include regression Analysis, Hypotheses testing; content analysis and narrative analysis. Regression analysis is instrumental when it comes to predicting the future from the results of the study. It will help us measure the relationships between independent and depended variables. It will also help us uncover sections that can be optimized. We will also test the hypothesis. This will help us compare the data obtained in the research against our initial assumption. In this case, we will be able to find out whether being alert of suspicious emails can reduce identity theft.

Content analysis will involve techniques such as color coding for specific themes. It will help us understand the overall trend in the qualitative data. It is an efficient method, especially when dealing with open-ended surveys, questionnaire and interview data. Lastly, we will also use narrative analysis. This will help us understand the culture of the organizations of the research interest. It will mainly only focus on how ideas and stories are communicated throughout the organization. This will include employee's satisfaction, customer perceptions about the organization and how processes of operation are viewed. It tends to be helpful while mulling over changes to corporate culture or arranging new promoting systems (Kirkland & Kumhyr, 2009).

This analysis will help us interpret the data and make recommendations. While interviewing the employees for a specific organization, we may analyze the organization. Employees who are satisfied with their jobs are aware of identity theft and will do everything possible to avoid falling victims. Those employees who are not happy with their jobs will not be cautious, and therefore they may end up being victims. Hypothesis testing should enable us to come up with a conclusion for our research. If our assumptions match the final findings, then we will have achieved our research objectives, and we can proceed to recommend the various ways in which we can reduce identity theft.

We expect the results of this research to confirm that it is possible to significantly reduce the threat by being alert while using social media and being more careful when replying new emails. Its outcome should also show that identity theft can be reduced by the various methods outlined in this paper.

From the study that was conducted, results were given on the types of identity theft. Exploitation of technology weaknesses and loopholes in the information system; here the products that are used are credit cards. This is the typical type of identity theft. The study found out that 60% of the respondents had been involved in this type of theft. 5% of them agreed to be not aware of the identity theft, while 45% of the respondents had not experienced. People also decided to be aware and victims of financial scams. This type of fraud where a person may pretend to be doing a security check up and in the process steal the client’s financial information. 35% of the respondents in the United States agreed to have been victims of this type of scam. 40% of the respondents had not experienced the kind of fraud with the remaining 25% having no idea of the fraud being in existence. On the motive of other related crimes, the study found out that the theft was in presence.

However, people with stable financial backgrounds were the principal victims of this type of identity theft. In this type, a person with ulterior motive may follow the victim to their office or their home safe to steal their passwords which they later use to take from him. 20% of the respondents agreed to have experienced the type of theft. 70% of the respondents were aware of the kind of identity theft but were not victims leaving a 10% who had no idea of its existence. The different type of identity theft is the facilitation of other related crimes. In this type of identity theft, the documents of a person are stolen to be used in committing other crimes by the offenders. The reports may include birth certificate, driving license, social security number among others. The research found out that 40% of the respondents were victims of this type of identity theft. 50% were aware of the robbery being in existence. However, they had no personal experience. The research also studied arrest avoidance identity theft. In this type of robbery, the victim's identity documents are left on the crime scene which makes the police to follow the identity owner rather than tracking the actual perpetrator. From the research, 20% of the respondents were victims of the said theft. 70% were aware that it was existent even though they had not experienced it. Only 10% of the people were not aware of the existence of this type of theft.

Repeat victimization is another type of identity theft. In this type, the offender opts to use the identity of the victim several times until it’s useless. The research looked into the existence of the kind of theft and found out that only 10% of the respondents were victims of the repeated identity theft. 75% of the respondents were aware of the case but not victims with only 15% being unaware of the fact organized identity theft. In this type of robbery, the offenders classify themselves in a group, and they divide their roles. The roles may be divided into the person responsible for victim location, planning, and execution. The research found out that 36% of the respondents had experienced victims. 60% were respondents had not experienced it although they were aware of it. 4% of the respondents agreed to be unaware of the theft.

The study wanted to know the demography of the identity theft victim. From the research, the highest percentage of people who were victims of the identity theft was middle age with ages ranging from 20 years to 40 years. The study found out that at this age the cases went high depending on how much money each victim earned. Most of the victims when examined on a gender basis, male victims had the highest number of 60% with cases being credit card identity theft. Most of the young age between 18 and 28 years reported that the robbery had been done through access to their personal information. The study also researched whether existed people were victims of identity theft. 51% of the respondents agreed to have experienced the theft from either their relatives or friends. 40% had not experienced or seen their friends go through the problem. (67% of the respondents said they had no experience, heard or seen such acts ever. When examining identity theft in the institution of learning, the research found out that 38% of the respondents were victims. 50 % of the students had no experience in identity theft while the remaining percentage did not know about the identity theft case.

The study also wanted to know whether any improvements had been made to reduce the rate of identity theft in the country.27% of the respondents agreed to have realized some changes in efforts to reduce identity fraud cases in the country. The study also found out that despite the changes and improvements the instances of identity theft had continued to go up due to loopholes in the system which was not filled.

The study investigated the relationship of the offenders with their victims. From the respondents, 32% of the respondents who were victims of identity theft were well known to their offenders. This relation on clarification was friends and relatives who had vast knowledge about their victims before they stole from them.

The study wanted to know whether the cases of identity theft were reducing. 65% of the respondents agreed to have experienced identity theft in the last year. In comparison with the previous five years, the rate of identity theft cases has gone high by 25%. The study looked at the percentage of identity theft case reporting to find out whether the victims were saying the arguments to the authority. 45% of the victims out of the total number of respondents had reported the cases. However, 65% of the victims for one reason or the other had ignored to report the incidence.

The research examined the challenges that hinder the prosecution of identity theft cases. Lack of police training in handling identity theft crime related incidence had contributed to 41% of the failure of the situation. Lack of jurisprudence on who of the victims between the business owner and the identity owner should report the theft had a contribution of 27% of case failure. Lack of proper knowledge to the public on whether to report the case of a credit card to the police or their financial institutions contributed to 32% of the case failure.

The research examined the extent of harm that is caused by identity theft. 35% of the respondents said that their offenders had repeated victimizing them even after their prosecution. On the financial transactions of the victims, 40% of the respondents who had hard identity theft involving their banking information had been denied financial assistance from most of the financial institutions. This percentage also reported that the banks had not taken steps to prevent the event from repeating itself and that they were victimized more than once. A large number of 50% of the respondents who were business owners agreed to have suffered a high cost of investigating losses associated with identity theft. Most of these financial institutions were banks and lending financial institutions. The research examined the effect of identity theft to society. From the findings, 47% of the respondents agreed that the cases of identity theft had affected their faith and trust in the security of their financial institutions. 68% of the respondents admitted to having incurred a high cost of replacing stolen identities because of the current credit card legislation. The charge of investigation on the police and other autho4rites goes up as a result of credit card identity theft. This results from the high cost of investigation, prosecution and correction of the offenders. The research examiner the financial effect of victims of identity theft. 17% of the respondent agreed to have suffered financial loss as a result of their credit card loss. 78% or the victims of identity loss suffered from harassment from loan agencies and insurers. The same percentage also reported a poor credit record by financial institutions and time of follow up. 65% of the respondents indicated that they had victimized by the public and some had faced criminal prosecution as a result of identity theft. 17% of the respondents had suffered shock on the discovery of their identity theft. This resulted

The research used extensive questionnaires to find out preventive measures to the identity theft problems. 49% of the victims suggested that the victim’s needs should be made a priority by both the police and the financial institutions. The need for a quicker police response 8% of the victims agreed that their losses would have been reduced if the police had responded early enough to the incident. Police officers should be given enough education on how to handle and deal with identity theft. An exclusive state agency should be set out to mainly deal with cases of identity theft all over the country. The public should be made aware of the fraud cases involving identity theft and given measures of preventing it from happening. 50% of the respondents recommended the creation of fraud alert notifications which can allow the victim to send an alert of his identity loss before it’s too late.

The research examined whether people have an understanding of federal laws on the prosecution of identity theft cases. 51% of the respondents did not understand the proceedings and the relevant statutes within the bill which relate to identity theft. The study investigated the requirements of consumer protection, 60% of the respondents agreed that the consumer protection statutes were vague and did not provide an excellent legal framework for the consumers to be protected. The research went ahead to inquire about the legal framework in which businesses and financial institutions operate concerning identity theft. The findings showed that 35% of the responses agreed that the banks despite strict rules and procedures had contributed to the cases of identity fraud.

The research wanted to know whether the suggested methods of cubing identity theft were effective. On the transfer of personal information to other third parties, 48% of the respondents agreed that the technique had been successful in reducing identity theft cases. However, 28% of the respondents were not aware of the method was successful since their cases had resulted from unknown offenders. The study investigated to know whether the increase of security measures in transacting using identification had reduced identity theft cases. 22% of the respondents agreed that the method had been successful. However, the remaining percentage did not agree that the technique had worked.

The results of the research above are discussed below. The study researched various types of identity theft. The rate of incidences increases following the kind of theft involved. Technology exploitation was the type with the highest percentage of identity theft. This resulted from the technological advancement in the current economy. The existence of loopholes in the credit manufacturing industry which lack advanced modification that would increase the security of the card user has contributed mainly to the problem. The second type with high-risk effect was identity theft-related crimes.

This type of identity theft involves the stealing of a driver's license, birth dates, and other personal information — this type report most cases of theft in the country next to technological theft. The high percentage of the respondents who agreed to be victims of this type of identity theft had lost their information and documents to offenders who later led them to be involved in criminal cases without their knowledge. The other class is organized identity theft. This type is where a group of people comes together to plan and steal the identity of their victim. The kind of theft comes about as a result of exposure to financial information and positions of people in the community. Many people who fell victims of this type of robbery were rich people mostly of middle age.

Another type was the case where a person can pretend to be doing a security check up, and in the process, they steal the personal information of their victims. These cases arise as a result of security loopholes in the system. The situation may vary from the presence to pop-ups on the computers and mobile phones where people fall victims by just clicking on the pop-ups. Another type of identity theft is the one which is done to facilitate another crime incidence. This type may involve stealing of passwords; security budges which are used to gain access during a robbery and to commit of a crime. These cases affect senior people in society and involve high-level crime incidences. However, the facts are fewer in the country.

The study investigated the effect of demography on the results of the study. From the survey, 60% of the respondent who was victims in their middle age, people aged between 20 years and 40 years. The study indicated that most of these people had lost their credit cards and driver’s license to the offenders. Most of these victims reported that the incidence of identity theft increased with their level of income. The research further found out that females had fewer cases of identity theft than their male counterparts. The study also found out that Individuals aged between 18 years and 26 years had lost their identities through their computers to gain access to their personal information. The research found out that people with high education up to university degree had experienced more identity cases than those with a diploma or lower education. The study found out that identity theft cases were very minimal in young people aged below 18 years with a representational percentage of 5%. This was contributed by low exposure to this risk because of their lack of complete involvement in the banking transactions and other economic activities.

The study also found out that there exists identity theft for the deceased people. The cases, according to the survey, arose where the dead had a lot of wealth or the family is in biased in the division of the wealth. The situation created a motive for stealing the deceased documents to impersonate them. The research in investigating the topic on institutions, the results showed that students suffered from identity theft just as much. According to the results, students who are in forces were the most prominent victims. This resulted from them travelling a lot and possessing many documents at hand. On looking at older aged people, though they represent a small percentage of the victims, they suffer much. The research found out that 10% of the victims had experienced identity loss. However, the cases had repeated it since they did not report the incident to the police nor their banks. Another aspect of demography was the repetitive victims. These are victims that experience identity loss more than ones. This came from the new accounts opened by the offenders in the victim’s name, and due to lack of proper resolution of the case by the police, the victim continues to suffer.

From the study, the age of people living in society significantly affect the type of problems experienced in the economy as well as in the community. From the research, the results showed that the age of the respondents had a more significant effect on the outcomes of the study. This has been contributed by the technological advancement and their way of living.

The research investigated the effect of the relationship between offenders and victims. The findings showed that there was a significant effect of 40% of the people who had, directly and indirectly, become victims of identity theft. Most of the victims agreed to have direct knowledge of their offenders. They said that their offenders were their relatives, their friends, and colleagues at their workplace. This is contributed by the closeness of the victims with their offenders. In a family, it is easy to know crucial personal information about each other therefore creating a conducive environment for the offenders to steal from their victims. At the workplace, people fall, victims of their offenders, especially when the two people involved are close to each other because of their duties. This creates a conducive environment. Therefore, the study concluded that there is a direct effect of the offender’s relationship with their victims. The being the case, victims of identity theft and those yet to fall victims should be aware of the fact and try as much as possible to limit exposing their personal information either to their family members, friends and colleagues.

The research investigated the rate at which victims of an identity theft report the cases to their banks and police. The study found out that a minimal number of victims says their cases. This was affected by the lack of explicit knowledge of the offence. Some people ignored the incidence because they deemed the information or document not important. This leads the victims into suffering in the long run without realization of the problem. The study found out that the reason for the reduced rate of recording identity theft cases had resulted from various causes; there was bias in the response by the police. This led from over-dependence on the victim's memory of how the incidence happened and comprehension of the crime. This discourages victims from reporting the frequency since they feel they will be victimized even more in the process and the outcome may not be conclusive. Another major contributory of this ignorance is lack of clear definition of what identity theft is and lack of knowledge by the police in handling identity theft cases. The paucity of jurisprudence which should be used as guidance in solving the cases by police and in the court; this leads to poor investigations and prosecution of the offenders. This leaves leeway for offenders to continue exploiting their victims even after being prosecuted for the same offence. Another issue that prevents reporting and prosecution is lack of explicit knowledge of the victims on where to report the incidence. This leads to more victims reporting the extent to their banks rather than to the police.

The police have little or no access to the information of the bank because of the set-out legislation thus preventing them from carrying out conclusive investigations; these being the problems that prevent victims from reporting their incidences, the police should provide community awareness on the procedures and guidance on the steps to take whenever one becomes a victim. The justice department should also provide a clear legal framework including special teams which can help victims of identity theft and the police towards the investigation of false identity cases. Victims involved in the identity fraud should be advised to report the incidence to both the police and the bank to provide the police with enough information which can help in the prosecution of the victims. Victims in these cases are mostly reluctant to inform of the incidence with the police.

This happens as a result of incomplete investigations and possible repeated victimization by the offenders even after prosecution. Therefore the police and the justice department should enact measures which will ensure that the victims of identity theft do not go through the incident again.

Most cases of identity theft are not prosecuted for their completion. The study found out that this had been a major let down in the fight against identity theft. The finding also proved that the high cases of poor prosecution of identity theft cases had led to a drop in the number of cases reported for the past five years. From the findings, this was caused by some reasons. There is no existing jurisprudence which can guide in the prosecution of identity theft cases. It is complicated to prove an identity theft case in court which discourages police and other investigating agencies from prosecuting the cases. The current legislation in a country which does not provide legal jurisdiction to the federal officers; this has led the federal agents to only assist in the investigation with no legal support. This leaves them in a bad position. The financial costs associated with prosecution are high. From the study, the costs of investigating an identity theft case cost between $450 and $ 750 million. This cost is high for the agencies especially when the cases themselves cannot win. Stealing of social security numbers is investigated by different bodies which are not the same as that which investigates other identity theft cases which are hired for their services thus raising the cost of the investigations. There lacks a clear emergency line which the victims can call when involved with such an incident. The police’s response is said to be slow when contacted. The prosecution process of identity theft cases take a longer time to be completed; this causes reluctance and lack of will to pursue the case. Prove of the identity theft cases is mostly dependent on the comprehension and memory of the victim. In cases where the victim has a poor memory and lacks good compression of the incident and the details of the document stolen, the case cannot be prosecuted.

The research also investigated the effect of identity theft to the victims, the government and the society at large. The impact of identity theft, according to the study increased the cost of doing businesses. This resulted from a high value which the businesses incur to improve their security system. This is as a result of steep losses that arise from a failure of insurance cards, credit cards and health cover cards. Business enterprises also suffer from high costs of reproducing and compensating their clients in cases where the prosecution deems them liable for the loss on the part of the victim. The study further found out that identity theft cases high costs associated with the trial of the cases. The investigation process of identity theft takes up to $ 20,000 to prosecute a single case. Different agencies handle instances of identity theft involving social security numbers. These agencies are hired for their services which increases the operational costs of the police department. The cost of maintaining correctional facilities is also high. This increases the cost of correcting offenders of identity theft. Although businesses were initially assumed to bear the cost of identity loss, the study proved otherwise.

The research indicated that individual people who were victims had suffered from losses especially where the stolen information was used to open new accounts. These individuals had to spend out of their pockets to take the cases to court. Victims also suffered from the loss resulting from the loss of identity. The study shows that victims suffered from emotional problems because of the time and costs incurred during the reporting, investigating and prosecution of the offenders. The victims also suffered from opportunity cost which arises from a lack of ability to purchase products, access loans, and job loss. Other problems associated by the loss of identity included problems in communication where the large percentage failed reporting the cases because of the lack of a clear way of contacting the authority, the process through which the victims are taken through when they go to say the incidents to the police. 33% of the victims cited lack of will by the authority to support the identity theft victims and prosecute the offenders. Victims also suffer from agency problems such as poor credit rating, cut off of services, harassment by debt collectors, and lack of access to loans and lastly lawsuits in cases where their identities were used in criminal activities. Some victims suffered from shock when they discovered that their identities had been stolen. The study also found out that some of the victims had suffered from domestic problems as a result of identity loss. The last aspect was the effect on the economy. This resulted from people lacking the capability to transact due to the injury of their documents. Therefore, the risks associated with the loss of identity have been proven to be as high both to the individual victims and the state as a whole. The government should provide measures in the security system which will help reduce the cases. The authority through the police department should submit a channel, let's say an alert, which a victim of identity theft can send to the administration. The police department should strategies itself, for example, create a task force specialized in handling and investigating identity theft cases in the country. This would facilitate the investigation and prosecution of the identity-related cases. Business should also establish and develop more security features of identity documents like credit cards and debit cards. The study found out that identity theft an impact on the society in which people live; the creation of biometric identification methods which would increase the government expenditure thus affecting the taxes that the people pay to the government. There is also a risk of passing on the extra costs incurred during security adjustments by businesses which are reflected in the consumer products thus increasing the cost of living. The loss of identity might lead to a higher number of illegal immigrants who becomes a burden to society. The risk of identity theft causes tension in the insurance businesses. This prompts them to take precautionary measures which result in high financial costs in putting in place particular preventive measures. The study also found out that identity theft poses a security threat to the country.

The study also wanted to found out whether the cases of identity fraud were increasing with time. This has been as a result of growing technology in today's economy. The poor handling of the identity fraud cases had discouraged more people from reporting the arguments to the police. This created a vacuum for the system which the offenders have continuously exploited.

The researched investigated on whether the respondents had preventive measures they the thought would reduce the rate of identity theft in the country. A large percentage agreed to have various measures as discussed below. Most cases of identity theft increase the losses because the time taken to respond to the problem is long. On this, the research suggested that police should be equipped with measures of receiving alerts of identity theft as immediate as possible when the victim discovers that their identity has been stolen. This measure will reduce or even prevent the offender from using the status that they have taken. Most of the victimized o0df identity theft did not report the cases of identity theft either to their bank or to the police. This is because of the reluctance of the police to investigate the case and the prospects of the offender using the stolen identity even after prosecution. Therefore, the study suggested that police should be educated on how to respond to all cases involving identity theft quickly.

The education would also help the police understand how to deal with cases of identity theft and prosecute the offenders. On the issue of repetitive victimization, the justice department should put in place severe punishment including the death penalty to discourage the offenders from using the stolen identities after their prosecution. Many respondents who had fallen victim of identity theft lacked knowledge of the risks associated with the loss. Most of this victim’s identity was used after at least eight months after the information or document was lost. The public should be educated on the risks that come with identity loss and the need to report the incident to the police. Reporting the cases of identity theft early enough especially in the case where the offender plans to use the information after a long time, can be avoided. The police database is set up to realize any fraudulent activity like using an identification that does not match the individual; in person.

However, the study suggests that a change in the design of the database can help. The database should be structured to flag out the real owner of the identification and whether the passport is stolen. This would help reduce the cases of identity theft especially the national ID, the driver's license, and social security numbers. The study suggested that companies and businesses should create a quick response mechanism through which their clients can alert them on their credit card theft. Potential victims should be given information on the ways through which they can protect themselves from the loss. The study also suggested that the local law enforcement authorities create a platform through which businesses and people’s information can be protected. With these measures, the enterprises and potential victims will be protected, and the risk of the identity theft incidences will go down.

The learner wanted to know what happens to anyone who is charged with an offence of stealing someone else's identity. For an assault to be curbed entirely, there must be consequences of committing that particular offence. That will be able to restrain it since it will remove part of the fun and also it will make the people think twice before deciding to take part in that activity. A study shows that some people that have been found guilty of identity theft have been caught and are serving their sentence in jail, (Hart, C., 2018). Such an act serves as a warning to anyone who has any intentions of pretending to be another person with any purposes.

The project researched on the awareness of the victims and business awareness on the federal laws and legislation that the government has set. The research found out that victim and most people in companies and financial institutions do not understand the rules that relate to identity theft. The study found out that there are existing laws which govern the financial institutions, insurance companies, and businesses about personal information of their clients. However, the study proved that most of these institutions violet the rules from time to time for different reasons. Therefore, the perpetrators of identity theft should be prosecuted fully and given more significant penalties to discourage the rest of the potential offenders from committing the offence.

The study found out that most of the victims were not well aware of whether they should report the loss of the identification to the police just to their banks. This came up as a result that most of the victims had reported their loss of passport to their banks and not to the police or any other team formed to solve issues related to identity theft. Therefore, the victims and the community at large should be given information on the channels through which they should report the loss of their identification. This will provide the police and anybody tasked with the role of investigating and prosecuting identity theft cases in court with enough evidence to assist in the investigations.

The study went ahead to investigate the reasons and whether the prosecution of identity theft cases had been successful. The study found out that most of the cases had not been successfully prosecuted. This came up as a result of lack of proper evidence in a case where the victim only reported the loss to the bank. The other reason why the cases' prosecution was not successful was due to the lack of information from the victim. Most of the victims failed to report their incidences of fraud to either their banks or the police. When the extent happens especially after a long time after their loss which denies the investigative bodies the credible information required to prosecute the offenders, therefore, the research should formulate ways through which the public can be notified on the need to report the incidence and where they should declare the frequency whenever they fall victims.

The study has come up findings on various variables in the study. The age of the respondents significantly affected the outcomes of the research. Most of the respondents interviewed were middle-aged between the ages of 18 to 45 with most of them having a high victim rate. The rate of identity theft in the country has gone up by a significant margin as compared to the last five years. The study also concluded that although technological adjustments had been made to reduce identity theft, the progress was not adequate to bring substantial differences. The study found out that most of the people who had been prosecuted for identity theft did not change much as they continued the practice after they finished their sentence. The study also found out low-level people had involved themselves in identity theft cases. The study further concluded that people with technical knowledge especially in the computer had participated in identity theft cases.

The study has come up with measures through which identity fraud cases can be reduced. Reducing provocation to the offenders; this can be done through reduced exposure of personal information like social security number in school registration, health facilities, and insurance firms. This will make it hard for the offenders to access the personal information of their victims. The effort made by the offenders to obtain the data or steal identity should be increased and the chances of being caught be also improved. This can be done through the provision of more than one security identification, for example by use and link of ID with biometric information of the person in the question. This together with the lowered benefits from the fraud will discourage the offenders from taking the risk of stealing the identity. The defense position of the offenders should be limited to reduce the chances of the offenders going without punishment. Further research should be done to investigate the causes of increased fraud cases in the country.

In addition to this recommendation, the following ten steps if monitored adequately by the involved victims can play a vital role in ensuring that identity theft is countered as required. In case of suspicion that your identity has been stolen, the following steps are recommended to be followed.

i. Locking down problem account.

There are many ways via which the affected individuals can realize that their identity has been tampered with. Mysterious financial transactions are the very first activities that in many cases are undertaken since the fraudsters are after money. These will raise the red flag that one’s account has been dominated. When such occurrences happen, the legitimate, and the affected users, in this case, need to suspend their accounts by temporarily locking them since they are in possession of the required documents. This will serve to prevent further losses that may result while the statement is still open and accessible.

ii. Regular scanning of the bank statements and credit cards for unauthorized charges

Old comments need to be scanned and verified by the legal account users to see if actually, all the transactions he/she undertook are the ones available in the record books. Dormant accounts also need to be looked at. And in case there are extra charges that one is not aware of, they should be reported immediately for scrutinize. Also in case of missing cash, it should be supported by transaction statements of at all they were correct.

iii. Review of transaction statements

The credit and transaction reports are the only material with the capacity of telling you if you are a victim of identity theft or not. The law has also entitled that respective agencies should on a regular basis give out reports to all their clients.

iv. Filing reports with Federal Trade Commission

Creation of a paper trail document can be helpful in when documenting theft. A filled report with the government’s federal trade commission is very vital since when it comes to reporting procedures. This is because one will be quickly be offered a recovery plan included with pre-filled letters that are essential in filing the police reports as well as disputing the fraudulent costs.

v. contacting the local police department

It is evident that the police may lack nothing to do correctly in cases when criminals stole your identity. However, it is critical to report alongside filling the federal reports because it can be helpful when they decide to track the suspects.

vi. Creating an account with credit monitoring service

This remains a wise step to undertake since it offers the victims with complementary data monitoring in cases where their data is accessed in a data breach. Creating an accounts guarantees one with credit reports as well as real-time alerts in instances where the account has been tampered with.

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Figure 2