Identity Theft One of the most common problems worldwide that people face is identity theft. Identity theft is an illegal act where one will use personal information in order to impersonate someone else. As technology advances, and people become more familiar with said technology, the methods of obtaining personal information becomes easier to identity thefts. Studies show that there are two ways that identity thefts acquire information and that it can either be done online or in person.
While use of a pseudonym or alias is not necessarily unlawful, identity theft is the deliberate use of someone else's identity, usually as a method to gain a financial advantage or obtain credit and other benefits in the other person's name, and perhaps to the other person's disadvantage or loss. Thieves have plenty of ways to get your information both on and off the internet. The internet, however, opens up a variety of different ways for a thief to trick by “phishing”. These scams can come through email, or even be pop up ads wanting to sell the new latest
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Identity theft can be broken down into two categories: financial fraud and criminal activities. While these two may seem like they go hand in hand, in reality, they don’t. Financial fraud can start at a simple letter in the mail, and range all the way to having a credit card stolen. Financial fraud is the most common type of identity theft in the United States. This type of identity theft includes credit card fraud, computer fraud, tax refund fraud and many more. In fact, 25 types of financial identity fraud are examined by the U.S. Secret Service program. Even though financial identity theft is the most widespread of all financial crimes, it certainly isn't the only type. Other types of identity theft, though, typically contain a financial component as