Do you ever question if someone is secretly using your “good name” to apply for financial accounts such as credit cards and loans, housing, unemployment benefits, or even build a criminal record? You might not notice your identity has been stolen until the rejection of an application or hundreds and thousands of dollars are taken from your bank account. Identity theft is a form of white collar crime, which involves someone stealing your personal information and have the intent to impersonate your identity to commit fraud or criminal activities. Furthermore, it is nonviolent, generally involves modest sums of money, and may impose minor or no fiscal cost on its victim. Unlike robbery, the theft is faceless; there is usually no personal contact between the perpetrator and the person whose identity is compromised (Pontell, 2009). Identity theft is escalating every year and is affecting many citizens today, economically and emotionally. “More than 9.9 million Americans were victims of identity theft last year, a crime that cost roughly $5 billion. Identity theft is a criminal offense. It occurs when a person knowingly transfers, or uses, without lawful authority, a means of identification of another with the intent to commit or to aid or abet any unlawful activity that constitutes a violation of federal law or that constitutes a felony under any applicable state or local law.” (U.S. Postal Inspection). We need to take our financial health seriously and find ways to safeguard our identity. The government, law enforcement agencies, federal banking agencies, the Federal Trade Commission are taking initiative to combat identity thieves and to ensure that justice is served for every victim.
I. When and How Identities are stolen:
Identities can be stolen in various ways. One major method of taking someone’s identity is stealing mail directly from a mailbox. According to the newspaper from Walnut Creek, Mail theft becoming worry, say residents: RODEO: Neighbors fear stolen letters could turn into something worse — identity theft, stated that “Mail theft is only one part of a larger problem of identity theft and fraud that also involves theft of documents or laptop computers, often during residential or auto burglaries. Hercules police received 148 fraud and ID theft reports in the first 11 months of 2006 (Lochner). Mail thieves generally search for credit cards, checks, bank statements, tax information, and perhaps healthcare records. From my experience, thieves tend to steal during the holidays, around Christmas. Thieves may also prowl in a neighborhood to learn someone’s routine and steal mail when no one is home or when the victim is sleeping.
Mail theft can be the start of stealing someone’s identity, but stealing mail is not the only technique of identity theft. A thief can obtain a social security number or private information by pretending to be an IRS agent over the phone. According to the article, TrapCall Offers Fake IRS Phone Scam Protection, “The scam starts with a call from blocked or spoofed caller ID and a con artist feigning being an IRS agent. Victims are told they are liable for back taxes and must make an immediate payment to avoid legal action. Scammers look to steal from victims directly and to commit identity theft. Since 2013, the scam has cost more than 3,000 victims over USD15 million, according to the IRS.”
A thief can obtain personal information by finding a wallet, which can lead up to identity theft and cause complications concerning the victim. A thief can also steal personal items by digging in your garbage, also known as Dumpster Diving. Under the article, Identity theft: A fast-growing crime, “An individual or business that fails to dispose properly of personal identification information, by shredding or mutilating, could find themselves susceptible to a "dumpster diver". Dumpster divers obtain account numbers, addresses, and dates of birth from financial, medical, and personal records-all of which they can use to assume an identity (Lease).
Other techniques of identity theft are check washing, using machines to counterfeit documents such as a Driver’s license or passport. Check washing is when the perpetrator finds or steals ones check then uses some type of chemical to wipe the ink off the “Pay of Order…” and replace the name and the amount.
Lastly, a perpetrator can use a high tech method to steal one’s identity through the internet. Thieves can gather your information by fooling you with an email regarding: “You just won a new car! All you have to do is sign up…” or “You just won $1,000,000!”. Bonnie Gretzer indicted that “More than 80 percent of identity theft crimes today are attributed to electronic sources and the creation of fake identities through technology” (Gretzner, 1). Technology is strengthening every day and presents a remarkable opportunity for a selection of identity thieves. From those who use key logging, which is a “software tool or spyware capturing the user’s keystrokes, and transmitting personal information such as PINS, account numbers, and password (Gretzner, 2). Another method is virus, hacking, spamming, or phishing, which is the “stealing of personal identifiers via a spoof website or email (Gretzner, 2). Users of e-mail are inundated with “phishing,” a form of spam that tries to entice the recipient to send along the information needed to steal an identity (Anderson, Durbin, and Salinger, 2008).
II. Who are likely targeted
Thieves tend to steal from those who are vulnerable, such as seniors or minorities. Agreeing with Newman and McNally (2005), argued that “victims of identity theft were more likely to be minorities; that the incidence of identity theft increased with income; and that males were more likely to be victims. They further showed that young people (i.e. between the ages of 18 and 24) and individuals with post-graduate degrees were more likely to be victims” (Higgins).
Allison Little declared in her article, Financial fraud and child abuse: Reclaiming Children and Youth, “A modern form of abuse of children by parents and foster parents is to use the identity of children in their care for their own financial benefit, such as accessing their unused social security numbers to secure credit.” The article demonstrates that minorities are more likely to get their identity stolen, surprisingly by their parents. Agreeing with Little, the main purpose parents tend to steal their child’s identity is probably because they do not have the opportunity to purchase items, apply for housing, or open bank accounts due to their low credit score.
In any rate, anyone can be a victim of identity theft and the victim might not notice until the suspects makes the purchases noticeable or suspicious. For example, Del Grosso mentioned in his article that Tiger Woods was a victim of identity theft by a stranger and used Wood’s Social Security number. The suspect eventually got cause because of his suspicion of how much he spent; the suspect was also a repeated offender. The suspect did not even know he was using the famous American Professional Golfer’s identity.
III. The affected victims
Under the pamphlet, “Know Your Rights: A guide for Victims and Witnesses of Crime” advised that victims report several behaviors:
– Increased concerned for your personal safety and that of family member, you may naturally be more cautious.
– Trouble concentrating on the job
– Difficulty handling everyday problems or feelings overwhelmed.
– Going over the circumstance of the crime again and again, and thinking aout what might have gone differently.
– Difficulties from financial loss
Victims have to deal with canceling accounts and request new accounts, or changing their address and names. One person stated “Someone used my Social Security number to get credit in my name. This has caused a lot of problems. I have been turned downed for jobs, credit and refinancing offers. This is stressful and embarrassing. I want to open my own business, but it may be impossible with this unresolved problem hanging over my head” (Mandelblit).
According to Pryor’s interview research on victims who experienced identity theft, some victims took the blame on themselves for being irresponsible, such as leaving the window open for the thief or not safeguarding their information and some felt that they needed to resolve the crime themselves (Pryor). One of Pryor’s participant stated:
“One of the things that struck me when I was going through all this is how much it's not validated as a real crime, something that you're a real victim. When you go to the cops when you've been burglarized they seem to care about it more. I've had my car broken into and they seemed to react a lot more than when I had my identity stolen. I think that it's not really—it's considered sort of a sterile crime. Like someone charges up your credit card account and no one really gets hurt. So it's really disappointing and frustrating and it kind of makes you feel a lot more alone in it.”
I agree with participant #2, because law enforcement is more focused on street crimes rather than white collar crimes; they hardly protect consumers (Pontell, Lecture 2016). Understanding that a victim of identity theft can sometimes be confusing, frustrating, and terrifying, but this crime takes time to investigate and if one does not solve, agencies will help the victim by regaining all his/her loses. Then again, the real victims here are banks, organization or the government, because they will reimburse any property or money stolen back to the victim.