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Identity theft cases

Lee — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:44:30 +0000

There is some information that is private and is only accessible to the owner of the information. Sometimes, however, people without authority of accessing such information always find a way of doing so and always use the information obtained to their benefit and at the expense of the owner of such information. This is referred to as identity theft and is a criminal offence, as it is a form of stealing.
Having been classified as a crime, this means that victims of identity theft are given legal protection by the various provisions of the law although this protection does not stand out clearly. Identity theft is not easily detected and one can remain a victim of this crime for many years. When they eventually discover it, a lot especially in terms of finances will have been lost.
Upon realizing that some form of identity theft has been committed, the first thing the victim is required to do is to report to the relevant authorities. This helps a great deal in preventing any further damage that may have been done by the fraudsters. For instance, if it is in regard to bank card numbers, informing the bank management will enable them to freeze the accounts thus preventing any further transactions by the fraudsters.
Secondly, a victim of identity fraud is required to make an official statement with the police with an aim of instituting a legal case under the relevant provisions of the law. Identity theft cases are somewhat complicated. In order to easily go through with your case, it is important to ensure that all records, contacts and paperwork are well organized.
The basic concept behind identity theft is impersonation or false identity. The danger of this crime as far as the victim is concerned is that besides financial loss, he or she can be held accountable for the criminal acts of the fraudster. It is for this reason that all measures must be taken to protect oneself from identity theft. There are various types of identity theft and they are categorized into four major categories. Criminal identity theft is where a person gives false identity when apprehended for committing criminal acts. Commercial identity theft on the other hand is using the business name of another person for the purpose of obtaining credit facilities from a financial institution. Financial identity theft is using false identity to obtain goods and or services. Identity cloning is assuming the identity of another person in the day to day life.
Whichever type of identity theft it is, it is a crime and one must always take reasonable measures to protect oneself from this crime.

Increasing the punishment for identity theft

Lee — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:35:04 +0000

What punishment should identity a theft criminal’s face? A good one may be for them to pay all the bills that they have passed over to their victims. There have been calls for the punishment of identity theft offenders to be increased in the country.
Identity thieves now face multiple charges when they are arrested. In addition to stealing personal information, the offenders have a string of charges that may be tied to them. Some of them include email fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, spamming and money laundering.
Prosecutors across the States have also been agitating for an increase in the punishment of identity thieves. For example, in Oklahoma prosecutors have proposed the punishment to be revised to a minimum of 2 years up to a maximum of 10 years. The existing legislation provides for a fine of up to $100,000.
The laws, which were signed in 2004, say that identity theft has been regarded as a serious crime and sentencing guidelines have been adopted to aid the prosecution of offenders. The Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act outlines different prison terms and compulsory penalties for thieves who have been convicted of different crimes, like terrorism and mail fraud.
Some of the increased punishments that the law has brought into place include:
The maximum penalty for identity theft under the Federal law has been increased from 3 to 5 years
Anyone who carries out identity theft with the aim of undertaking terrorism will have his penalties increased by 5 years.
Clarification of the maximum sentence of 25 years for persons who want to aid terrorism applies both to domestic and international terrorism.
A person who has in his possession identity documents with the intention of carrying out criminal activities is also now targeted by this Law.
The Law also directs the Sentencing Commission to overhaul its guidelines in order to be able to punish insider offences which involve “abuse of trust” of the person who has committed the crime.
The department of Justice has also been allocated $2 million every year from 2005 to 2009 to be used in investigating and prosecuting identity theft cases and other related fraud cases.

It is important that consumers know how to protect themselves from falling victim to identity fraud. There are many good resources that are available online with good materials concerning privacy and identity protection. Companies should increase identity theft awareness to their employees in order to protect them and the companies from losses that come about as a result of identity theft.
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Identity theft and fraud

Lee — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:46:21 +0000

A crime by definition is an act or an omission that contradicts or goes contrary to the laid down provisions of the law. This in essence means a crime could be as a result of an act that contravenes the law, or failure to act in a certain manner as required by the law. There are many types of crime and identity theft and fraud is a perfect example. Recent statistics by the Federal Bureau of Investigation reveals that more than ever before, the rate of identity theft and fraud has gone considerably high. Perhaps before going further in to our discussion, it would be best to first establish what exactly is identity theft and fraud. Identity theft and fraud basically is obtaining by wrongful means another person’s information or data, and consequently using that information to commit crimes of fraud or deception.
The information referred to herein above normally is personal information. A good example of such information includes the number of your driving licence, bank cards, and date of birth among others. The great danger involved in identity fraud is that this information is then used at your expense and to the benefit of those who obtain such information.
Identity theft and fraud is committed in a number of ways. The first and the most common way is dumpster diving. This is where the impostors go through trash from your office or area of operation and they are able to obtain some vital information from the trash. Shoulder surfing is yet another way in which identity theft and fraud may be committed. This is where an impostor stands behind a person in a queue and is able to peep through their documents and obtain vital information. Skimming is also a common method of identity theft and fraud where a person is able to get the card details of another person when the card is being processed at a pay point like a restaurant. This is usually done using a device known as a skimmer.
Other methods through which identity theft and fraud may be committed include an impostor posing as an employer and demanding to obtain particular details of a person which are then used fraudulently. Theft of records is also a means of identity theft and fraud where one steals the records of the company for instance files and obtains the information which he then uses to commit fraud. Other methods though commonly used in the past to commit identity fraud and theft include stealing purses and wallets that contain documents with personal information.
Identity theft and fraud is a serious crime and can attract a heavy penalty if one is found guilty of the same.

Penalties of identity theft

Lee — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:31:39 +0000

Personal or private information as the name suggests is that information whose accessibility is reserved exclusively to the owner. However, sometimes this information falls into the wrong hands and is used at the expense of the owner. Normally this happens when a person without exclusive authority of the owner obtains personal information of another and uses it to his benefit. This is commonly referred to as identity theft and is punishable in many countries as a criminal offence.
In 2004, the United States of America’s President passed a bill that required extremely tough measures be taken on all identity theft offenders. The previous law was made more severe as a way of ensuring that these criminal acts are curbed. The first Act on identity theft prevention was enacted in 2001. It was however repealed in 2004, making the punishments already provided more severe. According to the 2004 enactment, the already provided penalties were to be increased by two years and five years respectively for all identity theft offenders and grave identity theft offenders respectively.
Being the most rapidly growing crime, the only way and means of ensuring that the growth rate of this crime goes down is by imposing heavy penalties on the offenders. According to the prevailing Act on identity theft, any person found guilty of this crime is to be sentenced to a jail imprisonment or incarceration for not less than a period of five years. According to the relevant authorities, such stern measurers will contribute significantly to the reduction of the crime. In addition, the heavy and stern measures are also attributed to the heavy loss in terms of finances and otherwise that a victim of identity theft suffers.
It is believed that identity theft is one crime that plays a contributory role in undermining the economy of any given country. The economy stagnates due to such criminal activities and thus heavy penalties are important to ensure that the vice is eliminated completely.
Identity theft has now been classified as an aggravated crime and this goes a long way to show how serious this crime is perceived. Governments of various countries have, in addition to providing stiffer penalties for identity offenders, put up advanced technology methods to be able to detect easily various cases of identity fraud and theft.
Although the prison terms vary depending on the type of identity theft committed, there are some mandatory punishments and penalties for anyone found guilty of an identity theft crime. It is believed that with identity theft penalties having been made stiffer, the rate of this crime is likely to decrease.

Identity theft attorneys

Lee — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:04:58 +0000

Identity theft can make a person lose his lifetime savings. An identity thief can use your personal information to siphon out huge amounts of money from your account. In addition, they can commit you to huge amounts of debt that might send you into bankruptcy.
Identity theft is another form of fraud, and any one who has committed fraud has committed a criminal offence. It might take you several months, sometimes even years, for you to clear your name. Identity theft gives your name a bad reputation. Financial institutions might refuse to advance you any credit facilities, you might lose trust at work leading to the loss of a job, and sometimes you might be incarcerated for a crime that you did not commit.
This is why it is good to engage the services of an attorney once you realize you are a victim of identity theft. Identity theft attorneys will take you through the step by step legal process giving relevant legal advice and also advising you on your rights.
The first advice that you will get from the identity theft attorneys will be to contact the fraud departments which operate the three credit bureaus. At the three credit bureaus you will be required to explain your details after reporting that you are a victim of identity theft. The identity theft attorney will help you draft the statement that will be used by your financial institution to stop further transactions in your accounts name.
There are various identity theft attorneys who provide online services for victims of identity theft. What you need to do is review your case step by step. Ensure that you are as explicit as possible. The identity theft attorneys will then advise you accordingly on the various steps that you need to take.
Sometimes an identity thief may be caught up within the act. A criminal procedure may then be instituted at the law courts. This might require you to hire a legal attorney who will subsequently represent you. The identity theft attorney will help you evaluate the amount of loss that you have suffered and then take the court through a detailed process of informing it about the consequence of each to you.
At the end of the litigation process, the court will make a ruling. Since identity theft is a criminal offence, there is usually no monetary compensation for your loss. The identity thief will be sentenced to a specified number of years upon conviction. The victim on the other hand will go through the process of clearing his name which might take several months. Sometimes the procedure of clearing one’s name may go past a year. It is a costly process, thus it is advisable to try and prevent identity theft from occurring.

Internet identity theft

Lee — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:38:31 +0000

Identity theft by definition is obtaining by fraudulent means personal information of another person and using it at the expense of the owner and to the benefit of such person who has obtained the information. There are various types of identity theft, and internet identity theft is one such type.
Internet identity theft was not very common in the past as compared to the situation today. This has been attributed to the advancement of technology as is the nature of today’s world. Unlike the ordinary identity theft that involves obtaining of personal details from other people’s personal documents, internet identity theft is somewhat different. This difference extends even to the effects which are said to be extremely serious as compared to other types of identity theft. Internet identity theft can be so costly to the victim yet may take such a long time before one realizes it.
It is common knowledge that once entered in the computer; personal information is normally stored mostly in hidden files in the hard drive. More often, these hidden files store private information like passwords and credit card numbers.
There are two major ways in which fraudsters can get this information from the computer. They can either hack the information when it is sent without any security, or they can use some software that basically spies through your computer and retrieves such information.
Experts advise that to ensure that one is safe from internet identity theft; it would be wise to ensure that the web browser of your computer is well secured. It is also good to frequently clean up your web browser and consequently wipe out all the information that may be used by fraudsters at your expense. Secondly, it is of utmost importance to ensure that your private data and information is well protected. Installation of Private IE ensures that all your internet history, internet files and any other information that is private in nature is deleted. In addition, it also ensures that the recycle bin is emptied and by so doing it becomes difficult for a fraudster to access any useful information.
It is important to note that internet identity fraudsters are always hidden and this makes it hard, not only to detect them, but also to stop them. Internet identity theft and indeed any kind of theft is always done with the sole intention of committing other crimes. It is however unfortunate that once the crime is committed, a non suspecting victim will be responsible for all the criminal actions of the fraudster. It is for this reason that all measures must be taken to prevent internet identity theft.

Identity theft in america

Lee — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:25:12 +0000

Identity theft is a criminal activity whereby an individual knowingly uses or transfers another person’s personal identification information without lawful authority, for the purposes of committing or abetting a crime.
ID theft is the fastest rising crime in America. About 10 million Americans were victims of ID theft last year. They roughly lost $5 billion due to this crime. It is difficult to pin out the exact number of ID theft cases that occur since police departments usually classify them as different crimes, like mail theft, credit card fraud, internet fraud and other crimes.
Some of the tips that you should follow in order to minimize the risk of your identity being stolen include promptly collecting your mail in the mail box. Do not leave it overnight or during the weekends. Take a review of your consumer reports from time to time to ensure that they reflect your purchases during a period. Any unwanted documents that contain personal information should be shred and destroyed. Be cautious when giving out your personal information. Do not give out your personal details over the phone or the internet unless you are the one who started the conversation or the website uses SSL. Also, avoid carrying your birth certificate or social security number. Have them placed at a secure location.
Other things you can do to minimize identity theft include memorizing your passwords. Do not write them on papers or on other materials that you carry along. Also, it is good not to have common facts about you like your birth date, middle name, etc as your password as one can easily find these out. Another caution is to ensure that you do not leave your receipts at the gas station or shopping mall after paying for the services. Make sure you immediately report any lost or stolen credit card
If you have fallen victim to a mail theft, report this immediately to the US Postal Inspection office in your area. If you are a victim of credit card fraud, call your credit card fraud office and request an “alert” to be placed on your credit card. Ask for copies of your credit card statements to check whether any purchases or accounts have been fraudulently opened in your name without your knowledge. Contact your creditors and bank in writing and by phone and report the fraud. Have a “flag” placed on your account by your bank and ask them to alert you in case there is any unusual activity going on.

Identity theft protection

Lee — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:25:07 +0000

Identity theft is a criminal offence under the federal laws. Identity thieves normally obtain personal data for example, your social security number or your credit card number and use them to commit identity theft. Experts believe that it is very hard to eliminate identity theft. It is therefore essential to know more about identity theft protection methods. This is because it is better to be safe than sorry. Identity theft protection can save you from a lot of fraudulent activities that may be committed in your name. As long as your personal information is online, it is advisable to protect yourself.
Identity theft is ranked as one of the most common white collar fraud in the twenty first century. A majority of identity theft victims realise too late that they are victims. Mostly, they realize when they start receiving strange phone calls and letters from various collection agencies, informing them that they are indebted.
After suffering from identity theft it is normally hard to redeem your image. It takes a minimum of three hundred to six hundred hours. Identity theft protection is very important because if you are a victim of identity theft, creditors and most financial institutions will treat you as a guilty party until the day that you will be proven otherwise.
Identity theft protection involves some procedures that are easy to follow. Obtain a credit report from the three credit bureaus and analyze them keenly for any discrepancy. Do not accept credit card offers that you have not specifically ordered for. You should institute fraud alerts on your credit card to inform you of any fraud as soon as it is committed. Sometimes it is advisable to invest in a shredder and put it to maximum use.
Other than the personal measures that one can use against identity theft, there are companies that specialize in identity theft protection. These companies consist of highly qualified professionals. Most of these companies will guarantee all inclusive services in case you suffer from identity theft.
Several people have identified identity theft as one of the simpler ways to make a quick buck. They are on the prowl, and any one is vulnerable to these outlaws. It is therefore important that you seek companies that offer identity theft protection and register with them. You never know when these white collar thieves will knock on your door.
Some of the signs that you are an identity theft victim include receiving bills for credit card accounts that are strange to you, and sometimes your credit card report might contain debts. Whatever the form identity theft might take, the earlier you realize that you are vulnerable the better. Prevention is always better than cure.
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Identity theft insurance

Lee — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:31:00 +0000

Identity theft insurance protects you from becoming a helpless victim of identity theft that could lead to loss of money through fraud, impersonation and maybe loan rejection from the bank. The identity theft insurance helps you limit the costs involved trying to put your life back on track as well as saving you time trying to clean up the damage caused as a result of the identity theft. The identity theft insurances also takes care of reviewing your credit report and credit monitoring, then notifies you of any suspicious changes in your personal information such as inquiries on your account. The identity theft insurance covers your legal fees for defending criminal charges and any expenses involved.
Deciding whether to go for identity theft insurance or not simply depends on if you are able to meet all the expenses involved when trying to get your life back on track. Most of these crimes could happen to you when you are least prepared to handle them, or when you are not financially sound. This could ruin all the progress made over a long period of time. When identity theft happens to someone who has identity theft insurance, he will be rest assured that the insurance policy will cater for all the expenses to get everything in order, despite the fact that it does not pay you back the lost money.
Apart from all the expenses being taken care of by the insurance policy, the insurance will save you a lot of time running around trying to clean up the mess after falling prey to identity theft. If one has to do it on his own, he will have to find a lot of time to do all that work. This could particularly be hard for those who have to report on duty everyday without fail, yet it’s equally important to try and get things back to normal at the same time. The identity theft insurance helps you do all that without having to worry about taking time off work to get your identity in order again.
Identity theft insurance policy was introduced in response to a rising number of identity theft victims. Therefore there are those who are willing to pay some amount every month for peace of mind, just in case they could fall victim to identity theft. The total amount for the coverage is fairly affordable by most people on average, and the insurance policy could be purchased as a stand alone policy or as a rider to a basic homeowner’s policy.
Since most of the identity theft is associated with credit cards, some banks such as American Express now offer its card holders identity protection free by giving them free telephone access round the clock to the bank representatives, who can guide and instruct the victims what to do before it is too late. ? ?