Essay On Identity Theft

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WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT IDENTITY THEFT?

▪ According to The website of Identity Guard (2014), identity theft is defined as, "when someone uses your name or personal information to open a credit account, take out a loan, or make a major purchase.
▪ This type of crimes is considered to be the fastest growing crimes nowadays; where more than 1.1 million people where victims of this crime.
▪ Identity theft can happen more than once; because the information stolen at the first place can be used repeatedly.
WHAT INFORMATION DO THEY NEED?
Name, birth date, address, credit card, and personal information can help thieves when stealing your identity.

FOUR MAIN TYPES OF IDENTITY THEFT
▪ Financial identity theft
▪ Criminal identity theft
▪ Identity cloning
▪ Business and commercial identity theft.

HOW CAN I TELL THAT SOMEONE HAS STOLEN MY INFORMATION?
• Withdrawals from your bank account you have never done
• Missing your bills or mails
• Checks refusal
• Debts you did not know about
• Credit card charges you have never done
• Medical services you never done
• Getting arrested for a crime you did not do, but it was assigned under your name

STATISTICS
▪ About 7% of persons age 16 or older were victims of identity theft in 2012.
Credit card fraud (20%) was the most common form of reported identity theft
followed by Government Documents fraud (15%), employment fraud (15%), and Phone and utilities fraud
(13%). Band and loan frauds fraud (13%) . Other frauds (5%).
▪ People aged between 18 and 40 have a high percentage of getting fraud
HOW TO PROTECT YOUSELF?
There are several steps and precautions that you can take to make it more difficult for identity thieves to obtain your personal information. These tips can help id...

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...ur personal information.
▪ Many people do not protect themselves, believing that identity theft will happen to them sooner or later. This is however is not a good reason to not to protect your personal information.

BRIFELY...
▪ Identity theft is when someone steals your personal information and use it without permission which can damage your finances credit history and reputation.
▪ Identity protection means securing your personal information and keeping them protected.

REFERENCES
. (n.d.). . Retrieved , from https://www.identityguard.com/about-us/
. (n.d.). . Retrieved , from http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/vit12.pdf
Identity theft. (2014, April 16). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved, April 20, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Identity_theft&oldid=604487730
Identity theft. (2012). Salem, Or.: Legislative Committee Services.

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