Identify Theft

By Author: Henry Ford
Total Articles: 189
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Identify theft refers to any fraud that takes form of pretence to be someone else with a motivation of stealing money or to get any other benefits. The use of the term identity theft is actually a misnomer because it is difficulty to steal individual identity. One can only use identity theft but not really steal it. The main aim of identity theft is to gain individual identity in order to use it for monetary or any other benefit. On the other hand, an individual whose identity is stolen suffers negative consequences in different ways. Identity theft is a new crime in the world that has increased with the new technology. Many countries have specific laws which are aimed at making identity theft a crime but others are yet to put in place strict laws that make identity theft a crime.
a)Problem background
Identity theft is a new form of crime having evolved from 1960s. Research shows that identity theft crimes have developed in line with new emerging technologies that had allowed exposure of personal details to the world. The problem has been aggravated by lack of coherent statistics until recent studies revealed ...
... the extent of the problem. Government reports in 1998 showed that there were no comprehensive statistical data which could reveal to the world the gravity of the problem (Stana, 2002). Recent reviews also shows that statistical measures of identity theft is still faced by a number of problems which means there are cases of identity theft which are not reported.
According to consumer reporting agency, the number of cases on identity theft has increased on daily bases. Data shows that increased penetration of technology has provided more room for identity theft thereby increasing prevalence of the problem. The recent statistics shows that 3.6 million households in U.S are affected (Merrill Lynch, 2010). Individuals have lost more than $3.2 billion due to identity theft. Identity theft is leading complaint that is filed with Federal Trade Commission (Merrill Lynch, 2010). In addition, statistics shows that businesses have lost more than $52 billion from identity theft while consumers lose more than $50 billion annually. In 2008, more than 9.9 million Americas were victims of identity theft which was an increase of 22% from 2007 (Finklea, 2010).
From the above statistics, it is evident that identity theft is a major problem that is affecting thousands of people in United States. It is not a problem that affects particular individuals in the society but everyone is in the trap. With technology encroaching into all spheres of our life, we are becoming more prone to identity theft and unless one takes preventative measure, one will always be a prime target for the crime. In addition, students are at an increased risk going by their trend in use of internet. More than any segment of the population, students have been shown to be leading consumers of internet technology. Congressional report shows that students are three times more likely to become victims of identity theft compared to the general population. This means that college students are at an increased risk of becoming targets of identity theft unless they take appropriate measures that cushions them from the crime.
b)Purpose of study
Going by the trend in increased use of new technologies like online purchases, those who use these services are at an increased risk. Students, being leading consumers of internet technologies are at an increased risk. Problem background shows that students are three times more likely to fall victims to identity theft. Putting into consideration the vulnerability of students, it is important that students understand different ways through which they can prevent themselves from becoming victims of identity theft. The purpose of this study is to look into whether students are taking the appropriate strategies to avoid becoming victims of identity theft.
c)Objectives of the study
(i)The following are the main objectives of the study:
(ii)To explore the factors that contributed to students’ vulnerability to identity theft crimes
(iii)To establish the prevalence of identity theft among students
(iv)To explore different strategies employed by students to avoid becoming victims of identity theft
(v)To establish the effectiveness of the strategies used by students
d)Research question
The research question for the study will be: Are college students using preventive measures to keep them from becoming a victim of identity theft?
LITERATURE REVIEW
Identity theft describes any fraud in which an individual pretends to be another person for the sake of financial exploitation or just to get any other benefits (Sara, 2006). The term identity theft could have been developed in the recent past but identity theft crimes have been recorded for a long time in criminal record books. However, the term identity theft started to be used more since 1960s with the advent of new technology (GAO, 2002). New technology, including the internet, has increased chances for identity theft since individuals are increasingly exposing their personal information over the internet while making online payment or through other processes (McFadden, 2007).
The incidences of identity theft have been on the rise since 1960s. However, there was no congruent data that could clearly show the trends in identity theft until 1980s when the government carried out systematic studies to asses the trends in identity theft. However, government statistics reveal that since 1980s, cases of identity theft have continued to increase. Between 1999 and 2000, the number of identity theft cases increased by more than 36%from 65,000 to 89,000 based on 7 year fraud alerts (GAO, 2002). Different researches gave conflicting results showing that there was need to carry out systematic research based on reported cases in order to establish the magnitude of the problem. Due to increased need for systematic recording, FTC set up FTC Clearinghouse which was mandated with the role of gathering and reporting cases of identity theft. In November 1999, FTC Clearinghouse reported about 445 average calls per week (Stana, 2002). In March 2001, the number of calls received at FTC Clearinghouse had increase to more than 2,000 per week and by December 2001 this had increase to more than 3,000 (GAO, 2002). In 2008, more than 9.9 million cases of identity theft were reported, which was a 22% increase from 2007 figures (Finklea, 2010). Recent statistics shows that 3.6 million households in U.S are affected. Individuals have lost more than $3.2 billion due to identity theft. Identity theft is leading complaint that is filed with Federal Trade Commission (Merrill Lynch, 2010). In addition, statistics shows that businesses have lost more than $52 billion from identity theft while consumers lose more than $50 billion annually. From this data, the government started realizing that identity theft was becoming a major problem that had to be dealt with.
Research reveals that although identity theft cuts across the social demography, there are groups which are at a higher risk than others (Pinter, 2007). Since risk increases with access to modern technologies like internet, groups which use internet more often are at an increased risk. In connection with this, students and other individuals between the age of 18 and 25 have been shown to be a higher risk of becoming victims of identity theft compared to the rest of the population (Kochavi, 2007).
Most students fall within this age bracket. They are the leading consumers of modern technologies like internet. At this age bracket, Trade Commission posits that the risk of becoming victim to identity theft increase with a ratio of one to three (Kochavi, 2007). This means that students are thrice more likely to fall victims of identity theft compared to the rest of the population.
A bulk of research work has looked at different dynamics of identity theft. Most researchers have concentrated on prevalence and impact of identity theft on different sectors of the economy and on different segments in the society. However, there is deficient research that looks into the different ways that can be employed by different groups to mitigate their risk. Strategies to be employed should be understood in different ways. In the backdrop of the fact that different groups are at varying risk, strategies employed to avoid becoming victims of identity should also be different. Most studies have looked at bracket strategies that can be used by every other victim. This study therefore is based on the need to developed appropriate strategies that can be used by particular group like college students who are at an increased risk. The result of the study will be important as they will give tailor made strategies that college students can employ to mitigate their risk of becoming victims of identity theft instead of applying the bracket strategies which have not been quite effective.

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