Creative Writing Assignment Identity Theft And It's Impacts (Essay Sample)

Identity Theft
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Identity Theft
Identity theft is not a recently discovered delinquency; it is the fastest growing crime in the world. Identity is the most distinctive personality character which makes us unique. Most cases involved corrupt individuals who have assumed other people identities. In the current information age where most of the business activities get done online, identity theft has become a very dangerous issue. With access to social security numbers, emails, emails and other personal information, these unscrupulous individuals are capable of obtaining other people’s identities illegally, hence giving the victim a hard time running a clearance on their stolen identities. Identity theft has proved to be a sophisticated problem that affects millions of innocent victims, and it is an urgent call to the government to implement better policies and regulations to combat and counter the identity problem.
Types of Identity Theft
There are diverse varieties of identity frauds that are reported every day by the identity theft victims, they include:
Credit card fraud where the account number of the victim is acquired illegally to make unauthorized transactions. Credit card scams have resulted in the victims finding a hard time to prove to the bank that they had nothing to do with the fraudulent transactions. Further, the cost of fraud affects merchants, and end consumers through massive interest rates and fees.
New account name fraud where the identity theft victim’s personal details such name are used to open an account, such accounts are used for illegal business transactions, and the victim questioned about their financials as a result. New account fraud is tough to notice at the earlier stages when they are committed, for this reason, prevention or even the solution to the new account fraud is so hectic. Victims in most cases notice the new account fraud when applying for credit. In other situations, the impostors tend to create a new account using invalid credentials, they do this by stealing personal details of several people.
Cases of identity cloning is a shared issue in the past; it involves the impostors presenting themselves as the victim. Identity cloning occurs in several ones of them which include the impostor wearing a mask which bears the victims facial identity. By wearing such masks, the character clones can access personal and critical information about the victim that may end up running the victim’s life.
The most common identity theft type is the criminal identity theft, in such cases, the identity theft victims face charges for crimes they did not commit but rather perpetrated by the impostor. Such cases are in most cases severe, and the victims may end up with a serious criminal record (Williams, 2015).
Causes of Identity Theft
Identity theft is incredibly simple, and even the unskilled criminals are to steal one’s identity and use it for illegal reasons. Some of the causes of identity theft include:
The most frequent identity theft is the misplacement of wallets or even credit. It was an observation that wallets and credit cards are stolen especially in crowded places, wallets contain the victim’s personal stuff from identity cards to credit cards. The identity thieves are likely to use such information to commit criminal activities of which may result in the affected acquiring a criminal record (Koch, 2017).
The second cause of identity theft is the stealing of emails; the identity thieves are fond of stealing critical emails such as bank account statements, pre-approved credit cards, tax details and more. The essential information obtained from the mail could be used to ruin the victim's life in several ways by the identity thieves.
It is also a common practice that individuals are fond of dumping personal items such as bills and receipts which they consider to be useless, such documents contain very useful information that can be used to commit identity theft. The identity thieves go through the dump sites to collect personal information. The practice of seeking critical information in dump sites is commonly known as dumpster-diving identity theft.
The family friends and employees who are close to the identity theft victim are responsible for a significant portion of the fraud. Those people close to the victim have access to private information, insurance policies, and Social Security numbers and are capable identity thieves (Jouini, Rabai & Aissa, 2014)
The leading cause of identity theft is a fraud over the internet. This kind of fraud involves the creation of fake websites such as establish banks or job Companies with the intention of stealing personal information. Such deceptive sites have victimized most people, and their personal information acquired, the very information is the one used to cause identity theft.
Effects of Identity Theft
About twenty people of fall victim of identity theft every couple of minutes, and the effect could be extremely severe. Financial concerns are just but the beginning, and lenders banks and businesses are affected as well. The longer one delays to take action to identity theft, the more severe the effects grow. The effects of identity theft can be broken down into, financial, criminal, emotional and Additional Effects. Financial problems as a result of identity theft happen to the most frustrating, and hectic problems to counter though it is important to think about potentially life-threatening effects of identity theft such as Criminal effects, social repercussions, and other effects.
Financial Effects of Identity Theft
Identity theft victims are likely to suffer various adverse economic effects; these effects may range from overpayment of interest and insurance rates, many bank fees, and of lines of credit or loans, and much more. Some of the financial effects of identity theft include:
It has occurred in the past that the identity thieves went to the extent of changing the billing address on the victim's credit card account. The impostor then runs crazy charges on the very account. This results to the victim receiving calls from creditors which lead to reduced credit card ratings (Jouini, Rabai & Aissa, 2014)
New bank accounts could be created using the victim’s personal information and bad cheques written on the real details. The New banks make it impossible for the victim to write or cash checks. Besides, the victim may be up behind bars as result of the bad cheques.
Fake checks, debit or credit cards may be acquired, or electronic fund transfer credentials in the victim’s name. Such acts not only results in zero bank balances but also negative balances which will give the victim a tough time.
There have been cases where insurance policies or even auto loan services are acquired using stolen identities; this impacts negatively on the victim through increasing their debt of which when the victim fails to settle, they will be reported to credit card bureaus and face charges.
Criminal Effects of Identity Theft
It has been a common observation that the identity thieves not always after monetary gain. In most cases, the thieves commit crimes under the victim’s names thereby bypassing unpleasant effects regarding criminal record under their real name.
Criminals who run drug rings, math labs, and other illegal use other people’s identities. Once a criminal recorded is created, and the victim is required to report to the court of which they unknowingly miss, a warrant of arrest issued on the identity theft victim, and in most cases, the innocent victims end up in handcuffs.
Identity thieves can use illegally acquired identification across several countries causing crimes and records. In such situations, it is very likely for the identity theft victims to be considered global terrorists. In such cases, the victims are likely to face death penalties.
If one is a victim of theft with a criminal record, it becomes tough to defend oneself by proving that he/she was not involved (Seel, Firestone, Chinn, Clark, Danek, Witherow & Robbins, 2014)
Finally, the effects of identity theft can lead to job losses especially in cases where a background, cause problems in renting houses or w\even throw the victims behind bars.
Emotional Effects of Identity Theft
Identity theft is a disturbing crime, and its damaging effects causes the victims to seem violated. It is important for one not to let identity crime control them emotionally, by this, they can work out a solution towards the effects of the identity theft.
Most of the identity theft victims experienced guilt and resentment, especially in cases where the identity theft occurred as a result of the carelessness of the victim. In such situations, it a requirement that the victim considers the mistake as a lesson learned and focused on remedying the situation and preventing it from reoccurring in future.
The victims are in most cases the identity theft victims are confused, overwhelmed and stressed wondering how to undo the done. In such cases one is advised to look at the bigger picture that there are several ways of solving such problems, the victims are encouraged to seek regarding getting their identities back (Khatoun & Zeadally, 2017).
Worst cases of violation occurred when a family member did the identity theft, the victims feel so betrayed and are to make wrong and improper decisions which may result in added consequences. In such cases of family members and close friends involvement, professional advice is appropriate. Depression is likely to take over the victims as they battle finance or criminal effects of identity theft.
Additional Effects of Identity Theft
Identity theft affects the victim's life in different ways, apart of the negative financial effects,...