According to our lecture, identity theft refers to stealing of someone else’s information and identity fraud is to commit fraud of any kind with the stolen information. Most people steal information from others with the intention of committing fraud, and these two concepts are often considered interchangeable terms. There are many types of identity theft, including financial, criminal, identity cloning, synthetic, medical, and ghosting. Among all these types of identity theft, the most common type that we are likely to experience in our everyday lives is financial identity theft, which is defined as using an identity other than your own to obtain money, goods, or services (often those that you don’t deserve with your real identity). Financial identity theft is most likely to occur online than offline because as credit cards and e-checks gain their popularity in the digital area, it is so much easier for white collar criminals and hackers to stole credit card and other personal information from others without even approaching them in reality and without their knowledge because everything happens online. Most people today are loyal internet users who shop online and bank online, and all information that they might possibly use online (such as their credit card number, their SSN, as well as their phones) are very vulnerable to illegal access than they are in reality despite the firewall that ward off most but not all intrusions. In general, victims of identity theft often don’t realize that their identity have been stolen until the crime has actually occurred (like when you discover that a credit card bill charging you for the things that you never purchased). This is how online identity theft differs with that of the offline ones: the crime cost is lower and the chance of getting caught is lesser. I once witnessed a medical identity theft that occurred in reality: One of my friend’s roommate stole her ID card and went to the hospital for abortion surgery and my friend found that out almost instantly because her ID card is gone from her wallet. She then infer that the only person who has access to her waller was her roommate - and finally, she was able to retrieve her ID card without leaving unwanted medical records.
Simply put, if we choose to ever use the Internet for commercial or other purposes that involve revealing our personal information to any third party, we are putting ourselves at greater risk of identity theft. However, it would be very unwise if we just abandon internet to secure our personal information because that way the costs would greatly outweigh the benefits - imagine what life would be like for modern people without internet! Thus, in order to protect ourselves from identity theft as well as identity fraud, it is crucial that we learn about effective strategies that battle internet criminals. Vangie Beal (2006) discussed this issue in-depth in her article “How to Defend Yourself Against Identity Theft”. She first described the negative impact that identity theft might have on us by suggesting that it can sometimes “go beyond a monetary impact” if the thief used your personal information to commit other serious crimes (this would be the criminal type of identity theft, as previously stated). Beal (2006) then proposed several valid methods for “minimizing risk” recommended by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission). The FTC indicated that victims of identity theft must take immediate actions to further secure their account upon discovering the crime, such as informing the police or the bank. However, Beal (2006) also mentioned that it is better to prevent identity theft from ever happening by visiting only websites with well-written privacy policy as well as good security checks, such as the websites that offer data encryption. Moreover, we should never choose to disclose our personal information until we are positive that the communication medium is secure. In a nutshell, all of us as internet users should always try to remain as vigilant and alarmed as possible when disclosing our information concerning privacy online to make ourselves less like vulnerable targets that hackers will look upon.
Reference:
http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/identity_theft.asp
Simply put, if we choose to ever use the Internet for commercial or other purposes that involve revealing our personal information to any third party, we are putting ourselves at greater risk of identity theft. However, it would be very unwise if we just abandon internet to secure our personal information because that way the costs would greatly outweigh the benefits - imagine what life would be like for modern people without internet! Thus, in order to protect ourselves from identity theft as well as identity fraud, it is crucial that we learn about effective strategies that battle internet criminals. Vangie Beal (2006) discussed this issue in-depth in her article “How to Defend Yourself Against Identity Theft”. She first described the negative impact that identity theft might have on us by suggesting that it can sometimes “go beyond a monetary impact” if the thief used your personal information to commit other serious crimes (this would be the criminal type of identity theft, as previously stated). Beal (2006) then proposed several valid methods for “minimizing risk” recommended by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission). The FTC indicated that victims of identity theft must take immediate actions to further secure their account upon discovering the crime, such as informing the police or the bank. However, Beal (2006) also mentioned that it is better to prevent identity theft from ever happening by visiting only websites with well-written privacy policy as well as good security checks, such as the websites that offer data encryption. Moreover, we should never choose to disclose our personal information until we are positive that the communication medium is secure. In a nutshell, all of us as internet users should always try to remain as vigilant and alarmed as possible when disclosing our information concerning privacy online to make ourselves less like vulnerable targets that hackers will look upon.
Reference:
http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/identity_theft.asp
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