Identity Theft

Identity Theft
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Identity Theft
Identity theft is referred to as the offense of illegally acquiring other people's personal or financial information, for instance, Social Security or license numbers, to impersonate them. Personal information can be employed to perpetrate fraud, such as carrying out unauthorized purchases or transactions in the victim's name or framing them (Lutkevich, 2021). Other examples of what the criminal might do with the victim's stolen information include using their health information to get medical services and filing tax returns using their Social Security number to claim a refund (Van der Kleut, 2021). In rare cases, the thief may provide a false identity to the police, generating a criminal record or creating outstanding arrest warrants for the victim. Most identity thieves utilize computer technology to acquire their victims' personal information. They do their crimes by searching the hard drives of discarded or stolen PCs, hacking into PCs, accessing computers on the grounds of public data, using information-assembling malware to corrupt PCs, browsing social network sites, or using misleading text messages and emails (Cheng, 2021).
There are several types of identity thefts, including but not limited to; 1. Financial identity theft is the most common and involves using stolen identity for economic gains such as obtaining credit, services, goods, and other financial benefits. 2. Tax identity theft involves using the Social Security code to file false returns and collect a refund. 3. Medical identity theft is where the criminal steals medical information such as health insurance numbers to acquire accessible medical services. 4. Criminal identity theft is when the criminal provides the victim's information to the police during arrest, and the victim is charged instead of the imposter. 5. Child identity theft involves stealing a child's personal information for personal gains. The criminal may use the little one's Social Security number to acquire a residence, obtain governmental benefits, and open bank accounts (Lutkevich, 2021).
Identity thieves use various techniques to steal their victim's personal information. These techniques include but are not limited to; 1. Mail theft where the fraudster steals credit card bills with the victims' account number, tax forms with the Social Security number, and other personal information that may help them commit crimes. 2. Dumpster diving, where the criminal retrieves information from dumpsters. Essential details such as credit cards details, bank account numbers and health insurance cards may be found in dumpsters, and hence, it is crucial to shred mails before discarding them. 3. Shoulder surfing may happen when the criminal gleans for information as their victim fills out a form or enters passcodes. 4. Phishing. In this technique, the criminals use texts and emails that look legitimate to trick people into giving their personal information. The texts a...