Financial Identity Theft - Case Study Example

Ways to prevent Identity Theft Financial Identity theft One way of preventing financial identity theft is by protecting passwords, usernames, and personal Identification numbers, mortgage cards, credit statements and bills, old cards, or ATM receipts. It is critical to keep them private and avoid storing them in a hard drive. Individuals should also create passwords that are hard to crack, change them often, and avoiding using one password for many accounts (Biegelman, 2009). It is also vital to protect one’s computer in order to prevent financial identity theft. Installing a personal firewall and the latest security software is critical. People should also learn to configure their security settings to obtain automatic updates for anti-spam, anti-virus, and spyware recognition programs (NCPC, 2005). Financial identity theft can be prevented by smartly accessing online brokerage accounts. It is important to use personal computer instead of a public or a shared one. Individuals should also confirm that they have a safe web connection throughout their session (Kelly, 2011). In addition, Biegelman (2009) says that individuals should learn to file reports with their home town police in the event that one finds their wallets missing. It is important to make a copy of reports and provide duplicates to their bank and credit-reporting agencies. Moreover, it is advisable to alert the bank about it and to change PINs or cancel their missing cards and send them a new one. Medical identity theft Sileo (2005) says that it is important to request confidential medical insurers for a substitute account number to shun insurance fraud. For instance, it is crucial to call Medicare notifying your automobile insurer to ensure that you avoid issues in the event that thief claims for compensation using your cover. It is important to find out if your homeowner's insurance cover incorporates ID theft security (Kelly, 2011). It is also imperative to closely watch any benefits’ explanation by private or public health insurance. Moreover, individuals should positively ask for a list of benefits from their health insurers. People should always rectify false or erroneous information from their files. Besides, it is crucial to always ask for accounting of disclosures (Biegelman, 2009). Criminal identity theft Shredding everything is vital in the effective prevention of identity theft. Another way that identity thieves acquire information from people is via dumpster-diving, or trash-picking. Therefore, it is essential to buy a private shredder so as to trash all unwanted paper prior to disposing them (Sileo, 2005). It is also necessary to make photo verification instead of just signing the backs of credit cards. In most cases, store clerks do not check the signature block on credit card; hence a thief may just easily use the credit card to place online orders on purchases (Kelly, 2011). Some of these documents include library cards, driver’s license, insurance, and credit cards. Individuals should always keep their original copies at home as a record of their account numbers, contact information, and back-of-card safety codes (NCPC, 2005). Child identity It is vital to order a free credit report for a child in case of any suspicion. Victims should report to the appropriate bureaus, which are Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. They should avoid giving out their child’s private information. Unless one is sure that the information is going to the right person, people should withhold such sensitive information. What is more, protecting children’s identity documents, such as, passports, birth certificates, trusts, wills, and bank accounts is of essence (Sileo, 2005). It is also essential to always inform the police in case of anything suspicious regarding their children’s identity and educate the children on the significance on safeguarding their private information from the public (Biegelman, 2009). Occurrences of ID theft in history As per Sileo (2005) asserts, prior to technological age, many thieves had to strive to earn a living. They really had to get out and snatch other people’s things. Nevertheless, the technological birth opened up new ways of thievery; identity theft. According to NCPC (2005), identity theft’s history advanced almost similar time that the free exchange of private information got prevalent via the use of electronics and computers in the 1990s. The latest technology made it easy for people to buy stuff globally and safe credit. However, this made it easy for thieves to access other people’s information via online piracy schemes. For the government agency, it has been hard for the government to handle these dangerous identity theft incidents. In 1998, a transformation in the US government perception to ID theft got clear when Congress implemented the Identity Theft and Assumption Act. This legislation gives the government agencies, such as, FBI, US Secret Service, and US Postal Inspection Service, authority to investigate ID hoax cases. This also led to establishment of laws including Electronic Fund Transfer Act and Fair Credit Billing Act so as to protect consumers (Sileo, 2005). The greatest ID theft in history involved a case of Philip Cummings in 2001, who was a help desk staff at Teledata Communications in Long Island. Cummings sold consumers’ personal passwords. This allowed purchasers to download credit reports on over 30,000 unsuspecting people. Upon conclusion of the case in 2004, it was determined that about 2.7 million dollars had been lost from the customers (Kelly, 2011). Future predictions It is clear that Child ID Theft is increasing growing in the United States. A 2012 report established that the issue was surely prevalent. The report shows that 2.5% of U.S. homes with children had faced child ID fraud at certain point. Law makers continuously passed ID theft laws (Guard Privacy & Online Security, 2013). Social networks definitely enhanced their efforts to make money in the recent past. Social media fraud remains top business for thieves. Therefore, people should be careful of the false offers, such as, gift cards, and airline miles in the future (Guard Privacy & Online Security, 2013). Similarly, Tax ID theft remains a big issue in the world. Recently, there were fairly large increases in the tax ID theft rates across states. In all of 2012 there were 1.2 million taxpayers with tax ID theft issues. Within the initial six months of 2013, there were 1.6 million victims. Studies also reveal that more companies move to the cloud. The industry leaders foresee that companies will keep on shifting their information storage requirements to the cloud. This implies that customers will be a greater risk (Guard Privacy & Online Security, 2013). Whenever data is stored online, it can be acquired from any place, both by the firms and hackers. It is well-situated, but it also implies a bigger risk of information violation and security cases relevant to information kept in the cloud (NCPC, 2005). Furthermore, the issue of viruses on people’s mobile phones is soon ending. This is because of the likelihood of increased mobile malware, particularly on Android phones. Identity thieves constantly like easy targets. Additionally, there is a possibility of enhanced data insecurity in the future. As well, there will be 30% increase in mobile payment theft in future (Kelly, 2011). References Biegelman, M.T. (2009). Identity Theft Handbook: Detection, Prevention, and Security. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. Pp. 21-50. Guard Privacy & Online Security (2013). The Infamous History of Identity Theft. Accessed on 27th March, 2014 from http://www.guard-privacy-and-online-security.com/history-of- identity-theft.html Kelly, D.G. (2011).The Official Identity Theft Prevention Handbook: Everyone's Identity Has Already Been Stolen - Learn What You Can Do about It. New York, NY: Sterling & Ross Publishers. Pp. 1-50. National Crime Prevention Council, NCPC (2005). Preventing Identity Theft: a Guide for Consumers. http://www.ncpc.org/cms-upload/prevent/files/IDtheftrev.pdf Sileo, J.D. (2005). Stolen Lives: Identity Theft Prevention Made Simple. New York, NY: DaVinci Publishing. Pp. 20-60. Read More