Juvenile Victimization in Identity Theft

1982 Words4 Pages

Juvenile Victimization in Identity Theft
Introduction
Identity theft is continuously growing crime, and over the past several years we have seen a rise in the victimization of juveniles in the horrendous crime. Three important terms which are addressed in this research (that are important to know and understand) are identity theft, juvenile, and victimization. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, identity theft is defined as “the unauthorized use or attempted use of existing accounts, or unauthorized use or attempted use of personal information to open a new account or for other fraudulent purposes (Harrell, 2013).” Juvenile refers to children, typically persons under the age of 18. Victimization means to make victim of someone or to harm or commit a crime against someone. It is important to understand these terms to understand the full purpose of the following research of juvenile victimization in identity theft (Woods, 2014).
Problem Statement
According to news reports and recent studies, children are at higher risk for identity theft than adults, infants and youth have become greater targets to criminals in the growing trends of this catastrophic crime. Identity theft is a crime of which is difficult for an adult to recover from and get their life back after falling victim, much less an infant, child, or even teenager.
In an article released through the Juvenile Justice Exchange states, “kids under the age of 18 are 51 times more likely to become victims of identity theft than their parents” (Duda, 2011). Juveniles make such tempting target because of the high possibility that the theft may go unknown for years. Just as for adults, juvenile identity theft can have lasting effects (sometimes even greater effects). If t...

... middle of paper ...

...s) online, and don’t give children their social security cards and numbers until they understand how and why to protect it (Duda, 2011). By taking these simple steps, parents can change their children’s futures, as well as theirs.

Works Cited

Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design. (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks,Caifora: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Duda, C. (2011). Children at higher risk for identity theft than adults, study says. Retrieved from http://jjie.org/children-at-higher-risk-for-identity-theft-than-adults-study-says/
Harrell, E., & Langton, L. Bureau of Justice Statistics, Programs. (2013). Victims of identity theft, 2012 (NCJ 243779). Retrieved from website: http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=4821
Kanupp, B. (2014, April 04). Interview by T.L. Woods [Personal Interview]. Juvenile victimization in identity theft.
Woods, T. (2014). Unpublished work.

Open Document