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Opinion 1.2

Identity theft is if someone is stealing personal information to commit fraud. (USA, 2022). The most common types of identity theft are A., Unauthorized credit and debit card use, B. account takeover, C. open credit cards or loan accounts. D. Government, identification, job or tax fraud. (Sato, 2021). 

Identity theft fraud is still widespread and actually is rising. After seeing a slight decrease in identity theft fraud in 2019, the cases of identity theft were rising in 2020 and 2021 partly due to the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unsolicited calls, robocalls, and phishing emails saw dramatic increases during the same period due to lockdowns. Identity theft, including social security theft, was on the rise in 2020 and 2021, especially with false claims and the increased use of digital payment method while online shopping during the pandemic lockdowns. In 2020 and 2021 identity theft increased about 45% according to the FTC. Statistics show for example that account takeover in 2019 increased by 72% and in 2020 by 20%. Account takeover fraud is when the fraudsters access the account information of their victims and use it to change account details (checking accounts, saving account and accounts like credit cards, mobile phones, investment accounts) to make purchases or withdraw funds. Statistics also show that Government identity theft and credit card fraud where the most common forms of identity theft fraud in 2021. (Cook, 2020)

Fraudsters are getting smarter, and their technology is getting more advanced over time. (Cook, 2020) Technology and security companies need to keep up and develop more security features to prevent fraud, for example EMV chip credit cards. At the end it is on each individual to make sure that their personal information is protected. It is recommended to: 

· Monitor your accounts and credit. 

· Use an encrypted internet connection, like VPN, and stay off public Wi-Fi. 

· Be mindful about online activity.

· Use complex, unique passwords.

· Mind your mail and discarded documents.                                          (Sato, 2021)

 

Some other tips to utilize to protect your information are:

· Secure your Social Security number (SSN). 

· Don't share personal information (birthdate, Social Security number, or bank account number) 

· Use the security features tooltip on your mobile phone

· Review your credit reports                                                                   (USA, 2020)

There are several laws in place to prosecute identity theft fraud. The Department of Justice is prosecuting identify theft and fraud under various federal statutes. For example, in 1998 Congress passed the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act that created a new offense of identity theft with up to 15-years imprisonment. See also the definition under 18 U.S.C. § 1028(a)(7). There also are other statues in place such as identification fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1028), credit card fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1029), computer fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1030), mail fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1341), wire fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1343), or financial institution fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1344). Each of these federal offenses are felonies that carry substantial penalties with up to 30 years imprisonment, fines, and criminal forfeiture. The Department of Justice is working closely with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Secret Service, and the United States Postal Inspection Service to prosecute identity theft and fraud cases. (Department of Justice, 2020).

I think that it is still too easy to get personal information. More security mechanisms need to be developed to prevent identity theft. Also, making people more aware of the risk of identity fraud and how to prevent identity theft is crucial. Too many times people are not protecting their personal information enough. Another issue is that it seems that identity theft is not tracked and detected quickly enough and not prosecuted hard enough. Otherwise, identity theft wouldn’t still be increasing, and fraudsters would be more afraid of the detection and prosecution. Suspects committing this fraud need to be prosecuted with harder penalties and any rights still protecting them should be lowered.