Topic Selection - Assignment Example

Identity Theft What is your possible topic? Brainstorm five questions about it. Identity Theft Identity theft is stealing a person’s identity and pretending to be them by assuming their identity. Usually, people steal others identity in order to benefit on their behalf or in order to commit a crime and frame the victim of identity theft. Identity theft can occur when a person accesses his victim’s personal information; this can be from their identity card, driver’s license and credit card numbers.

Thieves can commit robbery, apply for loans, apply for jobs, get involved in fraud and commit several crimes with their victim’s identity. Identity theft is also known as impersonation (Hayward, 2004). The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the dangers of identity theft and how to prevent identity theft.How is the topic important to you and how does it affect you? What do you personally hope to gain or accomplish by writing about this topic? The purpose of this topic is to illustrate the dangers of identity theft and how to prevent it.

It will provide guidelines through which one can prevent identity theft and other crimes that are usually accompanied / associated with identity theft. It may be difficult to prevent this crime completely, but there are ways to contribute to its reduction. Identity theft can go for several days or even months unnoticed. This is due to the advancing of technology and skills. Victims of identity theft can be greatly affected financially, emotionally and sometimes physically. This is because once one is able to impersonate his victim, they can do whatever they want to them.

Cases of identity theft need to be dealt with to prevent this stress. Thieves have discovered a way of accessing their victim’s emails and details which enable them to monitor their daily routine. In 2010, an article “Cyber Crime Made Easy" illustrated and brought out clearly how hackers used malicious software to access their victims details. There are several types of identity fraud; the most common type of them is credit card fraud. This is a short term fraud as the thief will be recognized faster by the credit card issuing company even before the owner knows about it (Keene, 2009).

Research your topic and provide a brief summary of the current points of view about the topic. Share at least two different/opposing positions on the topic.The internet contains a wealth of information. This is because of its versatility as it is used as a tool in performing social and economic activities. It is for this reason that the internet has been found to play a major role as a root for identity theft as hackers use it to acquire their victims’ personal information. In the past years, the rate of online shopping has been increasing.

This has made it even easier for hackers to obtain peoples personal information such as; financial records, social security numbers, credit card numbers and addresses. It is very challenging to determine the link between data breaches and identity theft. This is because it is difficult for the victims to know when and how their personal information was obtained. Identity theft is viewed as a product of the information age. While research based on the case study reveals the internet as the prime leader on the information age theft, very little information has been gained directly from the offenders on how they identify their victims and potential opportunities (Kiesbye, 2012).

Describe whom you might choose as your audience. Who are your readers, and what are their needs, motivations, and influences? In what ways will you need to structure your writing to appeal to them?In this case, those who like online shopping are more prone to identity theft as with all the personal information they disclose impersonation becomes easy. Consumers need to be aware of these risks and take precaution measures. In order to prevent identity theft on the internet when shopping, it is important for one to always use a credit card as it is one of the safest means of money transaction.

It gets all the details about the item one needs to purchase, keeps a proof of the item purchased and gets a scoop on the seller. It is also important and advisable to regularly change passwords and pins of our credit cards and ATM cards in order to prevent thieves from accessing our personal information. This is a way of preventing us from being victims of identity theft (Vacca, 2003).What specific issue will you write about within the larger topic, and what unique angle will you provide?With the growing instances of identity theft across the nation, it is argued that the high rate of personal information disclosure on the internet and social media is the root of the crime.

Therefore to prevent this crime, it is advisable that we must adhere to all the preventive precaution while using the internet i.e. e-marketing and social media. The precautions include changing passwords regularly and use of credit cards while shopping. By doing this the rate of identity theft will be reduced.ReferencesHayward, C. (2004). Identity theft. Hauppauge, N.Y.: Novinka Books.Keene, C. (2009). Identity theft. New York, NY: Aladdin Paperbacks.Kiesbye, S. (2012). Identity theft. Detroit: Greenhaven Press.Vacca, J. (2003).

Identity theft. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall PTR.