Identity theft has been a growing crime, evolving exponentially daily for the last 12 years. It has taken our government awhile to catch on to the problem, but it is better late than never. Passing laws, educating the public, and understanding the technology used to commit these crimes is one of the ways we combat this seemingly unstoppable crime. So we ask ourselves, has the government done everything they can to combat this crime? The answer is yes. There have been laws passed that have made this crime a federal offense, and laid out stricter penalties. The first piece of legislation passed is the o Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act of 1998. This is the first piece of legislation that made identity theft a federal crime. It established …show more content…
There are internet sources that make a profit buying and selling personal information. The goal is for these criminals to camouflage themselves to gain your trust. One way they do this is using virtual offices. A virtual office is an office location, and corresponding mailing address, that is shared by many other businesses. Identity thieves use these virtual offices, which can be very useful in their scams. These offices can be rented by phone or over the internet without the thief ever stepping foot through a door. Another tool these thieves use is the new VoIP phone service. VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol, and is offered by companied like AT&T. This phone service allows users to place and receive calls over an internet connection. They main attraction of VoIP, is that these criminals can have a number from one area and be in a different area. For example, the criminal can call from Arizona, but their phone number will show up as a New York number. Another tactic used is phishing. A thieve will send a victim an email, or an instant message stating the victims bank account is in jeopardy. The email will usually contain a link and when clicked the victim is taken to what appears to be a legit company website. When the victim enters their personal information, they thieve has all they need. (Technology and Virtual Business Services Used for Fraud, 2014) So what is being developed to combat identity