Identity Theft Issues

Identity Theft

INTRODUCTION

Theft was once the practice of snatching a purse or the obtaining of credit cards, identification or a break in but with the invention of the internet brings society to new level of virtual theft. The consumers and business model is the reason of a weak defense against internet crimes. The willingness of credit approval, third parties information acquisitions, individual victim's unawareness of personal data leakage and the insecurity of internet transactions are all contributors in allowing identity theft to bring damage to society. Identity theft has become one of the fastest growing crimes in the world.

HISTORY

Traditionally, theft required the physical force especially in a violent struggle to obtain a purse or a car. In the field of computer theft, physical violence is not a prerequisite but rather computer knowledge is the essence. The term still fits within the English law set by the Theft Act of 1968 defining it as, "The dishonest appropriation of property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it." None of the less, all crimes are of dishonesty. Identity theft is the unauthorized use of credit card numbers and perhaps even other personal numbers resulting in acts of financial responsibility. Millions of people can easily be reached on the World Wide Web. At times, the purpose of identity theft was for illegal immigration, permanent identity changes, espionage, blackmail or terrorism. The cause and effects are disastrous and often are associated with financial liabilities. Thus, the topic is very broad because the idea of theft could range from impersonation shopping to phishing. To narrow down the definition of identity theft, credit and fraud is the key description. Without a doubt, financial theft has evolved.

Statistics and Facts

All companies either offering credit or online purchases are at fault. To some relation, the frequency of identity theft and the seriousness of the crime correspond to the commercial habits and legal system of the country in question. In Europe, most citizens carry ID cards which are not so easy to counterfeit because the physical form of the card must be presented. In the end, to acquire the actual card requires physical and traditional criminal effort. On the other hand, the United States of America permits personal ID verification through releasing social security numbers which results to common phone frauds. The threat can be controlled but this all depends on the commercial habits of individual societies which defines whether people can have the ability to open accounts using stolen social security numbers or for businesses accept card credit payments without a personal identification number or a signature.

The sooner a fraud is discovered corresponds to a lower fraud amount and loss. The 2006 Identity Fraud Survey Report offers detailed statistics of fraud in the recent years. In the United States, for example, there are fewer identity crimes committed which is now 9.3 million adult victims in comparison to the earlier years such as 2003 with 10.1 million victims. However it appears the average fraud amount per victim, which is the amount a victim is robbed by average, has increased from 5,249 to $6,383. None of the less, this trend is not only occurring across the states but the trend seems to follow across countries such as Canada, Europe and Australia. Partly, because of overall inflations in prices of goods and that the majority of credit lines are increasing the limits in order to adjust to consumer spending. Perhaps this is a sign that identity crimes have actually reduced in some degree in these recent years. Usually, 47% of the cases were detected by the victims beforehand. Sadly, 17% of the crimes are not detected until the bills come for the victim or if the victim attempts to use credit and is deprived of limit. This creates opportunity for online account balance activities offered by many banking institutions, a convenient and yet up-to-date status people who liked to know how they are handling their money. Otherwise, some theft cases require 241 days to be noticed.

So Easy to do and Tempting

Surely, the computer thieves are not the only ones to blame for financial losses. The willingness of lenders as a result of allowing credit without physical consumer contact, the acquisition of personal information held by third parties and the ironic ability of tractions to be able to take place through long distances via the internet are all contributors to identity theft. Wells Fargo is one example in Canada where one can easily acquire a credit approval through third party sources such as store credit; all that is needed is the social insurance number, a credit card, whether physical or simply the numbers and knowing the date of birth and, voila, instant credit approval up to a few thousands. There are paper forms that must be completed and sent to the company but usually the deadline to acquire the information is within several days but none of the less, the approval of the card number already allows immediate purchases. In the United Kingdom, many companies allow further transaction as long as the caller gives personal information such as the maiden names and date of birth. This idea works two ways; of course knowledge of a victim's background or eavesdroppers can easily learn this information and then use what is called 'password responses' to replace passwords with maiden names.

A popular site that often has to deal with problems with identity fraud is eBay. eBay often suffers from phishing, where numerous scam emails allegedly advertisement from eBay prompting for account verifications by giving out personal information such the credit card numbers. This information is sent to the high tech programmers who are in charge of such a scam and would be able to steal the identities of their victims. As far as taking it into the law's hands, eBay contacts Phonebusters, Federal Trade Commission, SquareTrade, Internet Fraud Complaint Centre, TRUSTe, and Escrow.

Third party knowledge of personal information is also a great risk to society. Sensitive information is held commonly in government and private sectors and is available for employment information request. The United States for example, makes personal details such as mortgage details, financial situation, driver's license and social security numbers much too easily and publicly attainable. The website, US Search easily allows the viewer to perform background checks, criminal record checks, civil records and even real estate reports. It