Tommy Parks Andrew Bates ADMJ 333October 6, 2015Identity Theft Identity theft can happen to anyone. Identity theft is nothing new, it has been happening to people for decades. Before computers were prevalent, identity theft occurred when criminals would steal purses and wallets. With computers being more ubiquitous, ID theft has become easier to get away with, whereas prior to computers, thieves would have to go into banks and would have a higher chance of being caught. Identity theft will happen to you.
With the advent of computers, identity theft has become easier and more difficult to catch. Thieves will go after people’s personal information such as, driver licenses, social security numbers, e-mail addresses, and even telephone numbers. With this information, hackers will try and hack into other on line bank account information; online web stores with saved information for one click shopping. A common identity theft technique is to dumpster dive. They will dive through both commercial and residential garbage in hopes to find bank statements, check books, credit cards, and other items that may have personal information on it. Another technique is to look over the shoulder of people on their phones or computers in a public area and watch them enter sensitive information into their devices.
Also they may wait by ATMs until an unsuspecting person leaves behind a credit card receipt. The last technique is “phishing”; this is where criminals will send out massive amounts of unsolicited e-mails to appear to be from legitimate companies requesting personal account information. It is common for people to not be aware of the fact that they have fallen victim of identity theft until over a year after it has occurred. Furt. .to your e-mail and rest the password.
” (Gerstner)In conclusion, identity theft can happen to anyone. It has been happening for many years, even before common computers, although computers have made it easier to conduct ID theft. There are many ways or techniques used to steal someone’s identity ranging from dumpster diving, to sending mass e-mails to trick people into sending them their personal information. ID theft is not a high priority to prosecute, resulting in a large number of people partaking in ID theft activities. Once victimized, it is not easy to recover your losses. Because of this, it is vital to take appropriate steps to prevent identity theft from happing to you.
Works CitedIdentity theft. By: Klenowski, Paul M., Salem Press Encyclopedia, January, 2015Kiplinger ‘s Personal Finance. Sep2015, Vol. 69 Issue 9, p32-39. 8p.
7 Color Photographs.
