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Identity Theft Research Paper

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Identity Theft Research Paper
Identity Theft: How to Protect Your Personal Information
Jason Jones
American Military University
Professor Mark Bond
CMRJ306 Criminal Investigation
April 18, 2012

Identity theft began to emerge as a serious problem in the mid-1990s. It has been coined by many leading experts in the criminal justice arena as the “crime of the new millennium”. Identity theft without a doubt is the fastest growing crime in our society. Between 2010 and 2011 it is estimated that 10 million Americans were victimized by this crime with a combined individual and loss to business estimated at nearly 50 billion dollars. When identity theft occurs it claims two victims: first the persons whose identity was stolen and second the businesses …show more content…
Swanson, Chamelin, Territo and Taylor (2009) suggest that the cost to individual victims to clear their names vary, but sources maintain that it requires as much as 600 hours of effort and up to $1,500 worth of lost earnings to correct credit and other related problems. So what is identity theft, how does it happen, and what can Americans do to protect themselves for becoming victim to this crime?
Using cash to pay for goods or services is somewhat a thing of the past. In today’s society we use our debit and credit cards to perform daily activities that include purchasing merchandise online, paying for groceries, dinning out at restaurants, and a wide variety of other transactions that involve money. What we may not be aware of is that in performing such tasks we are sharing personal information via the internet which can be stored, collected, and processed which are all opportunities for identity theft. Identity thieves use a wide variety of tactics to obtain a person’s identity. Statistically the most widely used method used by identity thieves is stealing wallets and purses which contain such items as identification, bank, credit, membership, and other types of cards. Another method is stealing mail which provides the thieves bank statements, preapproved credit offers, and …show more content…
They do so for a variety of reasons: to exchange e-mail, obtain news, entertain themselves, and manage their finances (Pratt, Holtfreter, & Reisig 2010). Of the 221.3 million internet users, one in nine report being victimized in the past year. That roughly translates into nearly 25 million fraud victims which is 18 time the number of armed robberies, rapes, and aggravated assault victims combined. As stated earlier, although there is no fool proof way of preventing yourself from becoming a victim, there are several ways you can educate yourself from being a target for identity thieves.

References
Pratt, T.C., Holtfreter, K., & Reisig M.D. (2010). Routine Online Activity and Internet Fraud Targeting: Extending the Generality of Routine Activity Theory, 6(1) 277-290. Doi: 10.1177/0022427810365903
Rocha, J. (2010). Proven Steps To Prevent Identity Theft - What Steps Can You Take To Prevent Identity Theft? Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?Proven-Steps-To-Prevent-Identity-Theft---What-Steps-Can-You-Take-To-Prevent-Identity-Theft?&id=6486241
Swanson, C. R., Chamelin, N. C., Territo, L., & Taylor, R. W. (2009). Criminal Investigation (10th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies,
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