Identity Theft Effects

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In today's society, there is a white-collar crime that has greatly risen in popularity among criminals. This crime is identity theft. Hundreds of thousands of people have their identities stolen each year. Identity theft is when these criminals obtain and use consumer’s personal information such as credit card numbers, bank account numbers, insurance information, and social security numbers to purchase goods or services fraudulently. According to the Federal Trade Commission, over 1.1 million people were the victim of identity theft. With this number, it is very evident that identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in many countries. The Federal Trade Commission estimates that identity theft costs nearly $53 billion annually. (1)…show more content…
Repairing and recovering from identity theft bears a hefty price tag for the economy. Banks and other financial institutions are more knowledgeable now and can spot fraudulent activity in action, which helped them, become proactive than reactive in setting up layers of security defenses to protect their clients from being victimized by fraudsters. (11) The economy is trying to buffer itself with continuous slams and financial losses brought about by identity theft. Losses incurred due to identity theft and fraud has incremented over the years, which is putting a lot of toll in the economy today and can affect the future. Most businesses would not bother pushing through police investigations because it can be lengthy and expensive while the chances of solving these crimes are quite slim. (12) Now that we know what could happen if your personal identity is stolen there are some measures you can take to prevent this from happening by keeping personal documents in a safe. Consider keeping a personal safe for your home as well as a safety deposit box elsewhere. You can use your safe at home to protect items such as your social security card, birth certificate and passport.…show more content…
(16) They can also develop a system that generates and recognizes unique “single-use” identity numbers, which can be used and discarded. (17) Legislate mandatory two-factor identity authentication for sensitive transactions, such as applying for credit or filing taxes for sensitive data protection. (18) At a national level we can take care of identity theft by doing public awareness campaigns, as they were proven highly successful in the pas to deal with other matters, we can do partnership and collaboration with police departments, private industries and many other. Training can be offered to deal with this kind of matter especially to police officers, investigators and prosecutors. : A critical variable and those combating identity theft should be as imaginative as needed. (19) They can provide the victim assistance and legislation. Legislative action is needed for several reasons: private industry

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