Prevent Identity Theft

Identity Theft is known as “someone tak[ing] another’s personal information without consent and us[ing] it in an illegal way” (Dean, Buck, & Dean, 2014). Since the rise in technology over the past few decades, more people have become victims of identity theft. The four main items that are stolen under identity theft are: Name, address, social security number, and sometimes even one’s bank account information. Identity Theft is divided into three types: financial identity theft, criminal identity theft, and identity cloning. Also, there are two ways in which criminals get the information they are trying to steal from a victim: low-tech and hi-tech. Hi-tech has to do with criminals being able to get information through technology and include methods such as skimmers, phishing, and hacking. To prevent identity theft, there are many ways in which someone can do so. One way is to not disclose personal information to anyone. Also, people should “destroy any documents such as mail which may contain personal information which a thief can use” (Dean et al., 2014). Creating difficult passwords that only the user can remember will prevent identity theft. Moreover, companies need to make sure their technology is secure, as they hold personal information of their

This is where “a criminal tak[es] every bit of someone’s personal identity and us[es] it to create a new life for themselves” (Dean et al., 2014). The article states it is easier for criminals to steal a child’s information because parents will not check the child’s identity or history usually until the child turns eighteen. I was very shocked to see that a child’s “history” can be created and therefore ruined and no one would know about it until the child is basically an adult. This just makes it crucial for parents to keep track of their child’s identity throughout their childhood and not just when they need