Category: Identity Theft

Medical identity theft occurs in instances whereby someone forges personal information to obtain medical services without consent or prior knowledge of the rightful owner of the information. The medical records of the rightful party are altered numerously. Fictitious records are created in the victim’s existing information. It has been observed that the theft presents several risks to the victim. The victim is not able to alter the records at a later date in their favor due to the victim’s limited resources. It follows that the person who is not the true owner continues to gain from the false information.

Identity thieves have disregarded attacks on financial accounts and their attention is shifting to cover cases of medical information. The thieves are rarely concerned about the medical ailments of the victims. The hardest part in medical identity theft is the fact that it is not easy to alter the records and return them to their normal status just like in financial accounts.

Victims are subjected to payment of millions of money that they have not in actual sense used. The rates of medical theft are rising every day and it is not possible to record a change in the near future. There are many challenges associated with curbing medical identity theft. International, as well as local organizations are coming up with ways through which they can completely deal with the rise in cases of medical identity theft (Smith and Sulanowski 52).

Medical identity theft is detrimental to the consumer since it is hard to sort out the information presented by both the genuine and the fake owner. The cost in the healthcare industry may, in many instances, be increased to alter the insurance maximums used. Healthcare services are becoming extremely costly due to medical identity theft. Policies to ensure that the culprits are identified and prosecuted have not, in many instances, been crafted.

The legal prohibition of the theft is found in section 530 of the California Penal Code. The major ingredient, according to the section of the law mentioned, is that the name has been used for the furtherance of unlawful things. The victim is prone to many issues, which include being a prey to future identity crimes. Opening of credit accounts is very common in such circumstances. In some cases the thieves take up loans and enjoy medical services without paying for them.

In advanced levels, they generate criminal records that are used to pursue new targets. Federal law offers protection to individuals and their medical files. The individual has a right to know the status of his or her medical files. The checking has the sole purpose of looking for errors and correcting them. The right extends to a level whereby one should call the doctor and make other communications with clinics, hospital and laboratories to make sure that their information is not used against them (Stickley 24).

It has not been easy to get the said records bearing in mind that the providers sometimes restrict people from accessing the records. The provider’s reasoning upon refusal is based on the fact that it violates the thief’s constitutional rights of the right to privacy. Every person has the right to check their files and consider whether there are changes that were not there during the time of filing the personal details. The person desiring to check the records should insist on having a constant check of their records.

On a complete refusal, one should appeal to be granted permission to check their files. The consistent checking of files is one of the key prevention measures to medical identity theft.

The right to check files is one of the many ways through which a person desiring to have a secure medical record should do. It is a duty vested on the medical service providers to be cautious when making alterations on the files of their clients. This will be of much help when working towards discovering theft of identity. Failure to let a party check whether their medical records are in conformity is actionable. Different states have step up ways of ensuring that medical identity theft cases are reduced (Roberson 13).

The individual’s rights to correct errors on their records should be emphasized to ensure protection. Through this method, individuals are able to remove the unneeded false information from the records of their information. This acts as an easier way of keeping a track record of what goes on in the medical files. It should be possible for medical identity theft victims to check their files and ascertain the accuracy of the files.

The rights to access historical files should be expanded to cover cases of medical identity theft. Notification of individuals on issues pertaining to medical theft breaches has been to prevent losses (Hayward 31). When a party seeks accounting disclosures, there are steps that are undertaken to ensure that the details are disclosed to the party willing to get it. Medical identity theft has the effect of exposing the health institution to suits. The best way to avoid suits is to keep proper records whereby changes are only effected with the authority of the records owners.

Medical identity theft is one of the most common forms of threats to the medical information. There should be a continued effort to deal with the vice collectively. The effect of health identity theft is increasing, thus requiring the victims, government and other facilities to come together to curb the crime. The critical points in addressing the crime must be put together collectively.

Economic recovery has a tie on the way some of the crimes are handled since consumers’ power to borrow is kept in the periphery. Spending of services that are not related to medical identity has been said to negatively affect economic recovery. The government and the healthcare providers should team up to create an environment that is free and able to deal with cases of medical identity theft (Hayward 32).

In an instance where the hospital suspects that an inpatient is a suspect of medical theft admission, there are several salient issues to be put into consideration. They are basically designed to ensure that the medical facility is protected, while at the same time ensuring that there is protection of information. The hospital ought to report the patient to the authorities after carefully reviewing the documents and ascertaining that the patient is a medical identity thief. This calls for meticulous review of historical records to avoid making a mistake. In some circumstances, the suspect may be in a worse medical condition.

The doctors have a duty to evaluate between their duty to save lives and the duty to make sure that their client is not defrauded. In order to determine the overriding duty, the question to be answered is a question of ethics. For the hospital to avoid liability based on negligent, it is important that the suspect is treated before calling the authorities.

The doctors and the hospital would be liable in negligence and breach of statutory duty if they turn the suspect to the authorities without any treatment. It should also be observed that without turning the suspect to the authorities may mean that the doctors have aided and abetted medical identity theft (Camp and Eric 54).

The hospital should treat the suspect to be on the safe side. The police officers should be informed while the suspect is undergoing treatment. This will make the hospital and the doctors safe from any liability. Any complaint filed by the suspect in regard to the intrusion in the privacy of the suspect can be easily dealt with. The hospital can defend itself by showing that it was checking the details to know the right prescription.

The suspect may find it hard to counter the charges. Caution should be taken to ensure that the information relied on is accurate. It is the duty of the hospital to make sure that the information is true since failure to do that is disastrous to the doctors and the hospital. The essential methods to achieve validity should be used. The health insurance company ought to be contacted in this case to offer its opinion regarding the steps to be taken.

The health service provider and the credit reporting agencies should team up to avoid any errors. The service provider should be careful since it may lose a lot of money once the suspect has been treated without assuring the hospital on the ways to pay. Informing the police and the victim is important to avoid accusations of the medical service provider having colluded with the suspect (Arata 23).

It is easier to prevent medical identity theft. The service provider should continue reviewing the records of the clients to ascertain their validity. This can be achieved through calling the clients and making sure they check their files from time to time to confirm their true identity. In cases whereby a suspect is detected, the police and credit financiers should be called upon to ensure that the suspect is prosecuted. Prosecution may in many cases deter potential crimes.

However, the essential steps that every victim should take are to confirm that their records are in good order. Service providers may not detect those cases easily bearing in mind that every individual is protected from any intrusion.

Hospitals are supposed to respect individual rights to privacy. This protects the hospital and the doctors from liability. The constitutional right of privacy should be adhered to during the said operations. Records should only be provided to their owners. The exception to the right of privacy should be superseded by the right of persons to access their records. Guided by the said exception, it becomes clear that the right to privacy is to be surpassed to achieve the overriding objective. In California, the Penal Code has outlawed medical identity theft by classifying it in other classes of theft.

Works Cited

Arata, Michael J. Identity Theft for Dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2010. Print.

Camp, Jean, and Eric Johnson. The Economics of Financial and Medical Identity Theft. New York, NY: Springer, 2012. Print.

Hayward, Claudia L. Identity Theft. Hauppauge, NY: Novinka Books, 2004. Print.

Roberson, Cliff. Identity Theft Investigations. New York, NY: Kaplan, 2008. Print.

Smith, Robert E, and Sulanowski James. Compilation of State and Federal Privacy Laws. Providence, RI: Privacy Journal, 2002. Print.

Stickley, Jim. The Truth about Identity Theft. Upper Saddle River, NJ: FT Press, 2009. Print.

The planning and evaluation process of the identity theft case against the university professor will require several action steps. The actions that will be taken to recover the identity of the university professor will depend on the nature of the identity theft and the fraud committed.

The first step will be to request the professor to confirm the presence of any anomalies in his monthly statements. If he observes any anomalies on his credit cards statements, or financial reports, he will be advised to inform his credit agencies immediately (Dadisho, 2005).

The second action plan will depend on the errors detected in the professor’s monthly credit cards statements. Once the professor reports any anomaly, and the fraud team concludes there are grounds to believe a fraud has taken place, the fraud team will recommend to the professor that he files a preliminary fraud alert with his credit cards companies, or other agencies that deal with identity theft. He will also be asked to confirm his accounts details with these companies (Dadisho, 2005).

Once a fraud is confirmed, the professor will be advised to file a protest form with the trade agency and an identity theft statement with the local law enforcement unit. Following this step, the professor will be instructed to make several copies of the police report and preserve the originals in a secure place. These documents will facilitate the investigation process (FBI, 2012).

Depending on the nature of the identity theft, the professor will be advised to contemplate a second fraud notification. This type of alert lasts seven years. It obliges creditors to contact the professor in-person prior to opening new accounts. This final step helps creditors authenticate the identity of the person opening an account with them. This minimizes the chances of an identity theft (FBI, 2012).

How to Stop or Minimize Identity Theft

It is possible to stop or minimize identity theft. This argument is confirmed by the B. J. Thomas case. Miss Thomas lost 65,000 dollars in identity theft. A Federal Bureau of Investigation agent K. Barrows managed to solve this case, which was one of Americas’ long running fraud cases (O’brien, 2004).

With the advent and increase in identity theft cases in modern years, major credit agencies across the world such as Equifax and Experian, began recommending credit supervision and personality fraud facilities to their customers for a fee (Roberson, 2008).

Recommendations

I would recommend several measures to prevent and minimize odds of fraud as a result of identity theft. First, I would recommend close monitoring of credit cards. Given that credit card statements contain transactions history, watchful credit card users can observe anomalies in their transactions. In view of this, credit users may need to subscribe to identity theft monitoring services, as an additional safety measure.

Second, people should be advised to preserve their financial transactions data and review their monthly statements regularly to identify errors and anomalies in the statements. Third, people have to invest and install defense softwares in their computers. In addition, they should keep these computer applications updated, to protect against online hackers and other pilfering computer applications (Mitic, 2009).

I would also recommend to people to avoid sharing documents with private information, they be cautious of strange email with attachments and active links, they keep personal documents with sensitive data such as credit card numbers and bank account numbers protected and they stay informed about modern day frauds (Mitic, 2009).

References

Dadisho, E. (2005). Identity Theft and the Police Response: The Problem. Web.

Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2012). A stolen identity is a powerful cloak of anonymity for criminals, terrorists, and a danger to national security and private citizens alike. Web.

Mitic, S. (2009). Stopping Identity Theft: 10 Easy Steps to Security. Berkeley, California: Nolo.

O’brien, T. L. (2004). Identity Theft Is Epidemic. Can It Be Stopped? The New York Times, p. 1.

Roberson, C. (2008). Identity Theft Investigations. New York: Kaplan Publishing.

Identity theft is an act of stealing someone else’s identity with the intention of accessing resources or any other benefits that may come from using the victim’s name. People or even organizations can be faced with adverse consequences should they fall victims of these identity fraudsters.

Identifying the connection between the identity fraud and the data breeches is always a very hard task since it is never easy determining how the theft was executed. An unpublished study by Carnegie Mellon University affirms that in many cases, the reasons for identity theft are never identified but chances of falling victim to identity theft stands at around 2% (Michelle, 2000).

With the advent of technology, identity theft has been made even much easier to the fraudsters. Hackers now have access to very malicious software and applications. There even exists such application as ‘interested in credit card theft?’ This reveals the ease with which the identity thieves can access all sorts of information online.

An example of an identity theft is the case of Abraham Abdalla of Brooklyn, also known as the bus boy. He went online to access people’s private financial details. The victims included among the wealthiest people in America. He even had Oprah Winfrey’s and Steven Spielberg’s credit cards and financial information.

However, his days were numbered and he was caught while he was attempting to make one of the largest transactions. It was referred to as a software giant. This and a multitude of various other cases occur every other day.

How would you protect cooperate executives from fraudulent acts against them?

Cooperative executives are at a great risk of falling victims to identity theft. This is so majorly because of the largesse that they always hold in the form of personal and organizational resources. This may consequently lead to large and even irrecoverable personal and organizational losses.

Before coming up with ways and measures of curbing identity theft that may be targeted on the executives, it is necessary to identify the modes and means by which the theft may be executed. It is also very important to note that fraudsters begin by obtaining personal and confidential information of their victims. Thus, it is vital to note some of the ways in which personal identifiers may fall in the hands of the fraudsters.

In order to obtain the confidential information, the identity thieves may apply various acts. One of the acts include rummaging through rubbish at dumpsites to access dumped documents which could containing their target victim’s information or rather – in this case – the executive’s information. These are the so-called dumpster divers.

Redundant IT equipment may also serve as a rich source of information to the fraudsters. These equipments may include, amongst many others, storage media such as flash disks and other memory sticks, hard drives and mobile phones. All these equipments, when carelessly disposed of, may be the genesis of grave problems.

Identity thieves can also observe as someone types their login details in an attempt to log into their private sites in publicly situated IT devices such as computers or even ATMs. The identity thieves, in order to obtain confidential data, may also use sophisticated means such as the hand held card readers that are able to skim through and avail details from a credit card (Austin & Carr, 2002).

To retrieve confidential data online, the identity thieves can use spyware or even hack into computers and databases to obtain volumes of information. Certain software can be access by hackers and can even be used by amateur hackers to break into and retrieve information from their accomplices’ computers.

Additionally, the fraudsters can attack weak passwords and gain access into an executive’s details that are found online. The fraudsters do this through well-calculated guess works to crack weak passwords.

Therefore, the big question becomes, how can cooperate executives protect themselves and their organizations against the identity thieves? It is important to note that the fraudsters acquire personal information or rather personal identifiers through serious breaches (Neal, 2002).

It is also important to affirm that in most cases, it is as a result of an individual’s naivety or ignorance that the identity thieves find it easy to carry out their heinous acts. Ignorance and naivety may lead to mishandling of vital personal and even organizational details.

To avert this crime, the executives should avoid unnecessary introductions or identification of themselves at bogus avenues. This is basically known as risk avoidance (Johnson, 2006). There is need to be very cautious about IT systems that require or demand excess amounts of personal information such as national identification numbers or even social security numbers.

Electronic identity theft can be mitigated by maintaining computer security. An example includes fully patching the operating systems and thus protecting them from intrusion by security threats.

Computer systems’ security can also be fortified by running antivirus software to expel any malware or spyware that may be used by identity thieves to obtain information. Recently, there were insurance service providers who not only purport to protect against identity fraud but also to identify when an identity theft had occurred.

Some other basic measures to avert executives’ identity theft are to ensuring that all waste documents containing confidential information are shredded before they are dumped. All organizational networks should be completely secured. The executives’ computers, laptops or any other portable IT devices should be strongly encrypted to protect information in case the devices are stolen.

Measures to ensure that the identity-theft mitigation measures are upheld

From the above scenario, we can effectively learn that apart from the executive ensuring security of personal details, various other persons within an organizational setup also carry the role of upholding the organization and even the executives’ details security (Dick, 2006).

These persons may include office secretaries, the company IT persons, mobile phone service providers, and many other stakeholders. It is consequently important that an awareness program be carried out in order to educate these groups of individuals on how to work against identity fraud.

The education and awareness program would be carried out in the form of a workshop whereby all these groups of persons would be invited. The workshop would touch on issues such as appropriate paper and equipment dumping procedures, IT systems security, importance of risk avoidance and many other propositions.

In order to ensure that the proposed measures of averting identity fraud are upheld, it would be necessary to put everyone on toes. The departmental heads can effectively do this.

The departmental heads may in turn appoint monitors who would ensure that the agreed on steps are upheld and reports made on a daily or weekly basis. For example, it would be important to assign someone the job of ensuring that all waste paper and equipment are free of confidential information.

References

Austin, J., & Carr, J. (2000). Data Breaches and Identity Fraud. New York, NY: Context Press.

Dick, G. (2010). Fighting Personal Identity fraud. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

Johnson, J. (2006). A Chronology of Data Breaches. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Michelle, M. (2000). Identity Theft: How to Protect and Restore Your Good Name. Field manual, 6(22), 1-216.

Neal, J. (2002). Guarding Cooperate Identity. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing.

The theft offense can be committed in a variety of ways. In essence, it occurs when someone impersonates another person using bits and pieces of information about them, most commonly their Social Security number, for fraudulent purposes. Obtaining credit cards and loans in the name of another person and then failing to pay the bills, opening utility accounts, renting an apartment, acquiring a cell phone, purchasing a car or a property, and so on are examples. Another sort of identity theft, which I refer to as the “worst case scenario,” occurs when the offender conducts crimes in the victim’s name and creates a criminal record for that individual (Garber, 2017). Because of federal law, victims are not accountable for the costs racked up by the imposters. They do, however, have the anxiety and anguish of rebuilding their financial health and restoring their positive credit history over months, if not years.

The length of time it takes to recover from identity theft varies greatly based on the sort of fraud committed. When it comes to credit card fraud, where someone uses the card without the owner’s permission but does not gain access to more sensitive information, it could just be the time it takes the victim to report the fraud and receive a replacement card in the mail. Nevertheless, with more serious instances of identity theft, it can take a long time (Garber, 2017). If someone takes your Social Security number and uses it to open a credit account in your name, it can take months to challenge the account and prove you were not the one who used it (Garber, 2017). Unfortunately, It might take years to erase the damage if someone manages to use someone’s identity to acquire tax debt and do other crimes and severe infractions.

References

Garber, M. (2017). Identity Theft. In The Muses on Their Lunch Hour (pp. 79-88). New York: Fordham University Press.

High-tech crime encompasses a broad range of crimes that attack computers using various digital tools, thus presenting a high danger to network users worldwide. Such crimes generally comprise both minor and major cases, depending on the goals that criminals pursue. In such a manner, online identity theft represents a growing threat, as offenses tend to appear at “an alarming rate” (Knetzger & Muraski, 2008, p. 54). Indeed, generally understood as unauthorized use of one’s personal information, identity theft appears daily in various spheres of human life. Further, the cases of various identity theft cases will be elaborated, simultaneously providing methods for to lower potential risks.

The Case of Unauthorized Possession of Credit Card Accounts Information

Financial institutions, such as banks, protect their clients’ information with the use of diverse methods in order to prevent frauds that use information and telecommunication technologies. Nevertheless, even official authentication methods do not appear to be a full guarantee that personal information will never be leaked. Indeed, a notable case of an individual who possessed the personal information of more than 2,300 accounts of credit cards shall be thereby considered. To be more precise, in 2011, a man from Brooklyn, N. Y., was accused of online identity theft, which involved more than $700,000 (The U.S. Department of Justice, 2011). This and other similar schemes primarily involve purchasing the stolen credit cards and, upon obtaining personal information, further distributing the data among other individuals. Subsequently, these individuals then use the stolen information to commit other fraudulent transactions. In turn, people suffer huge monetary losses, especially if they do not inform their bank about unauthorized transactions on time.

Methods to Prevent the Potential Leak of the Credit Card Accounts Information

It is fundamentally difficult to protect oneself from online identity theft. Indeed, referring to Bani-Hani et al. (2019, p. 1055), various authentication methods are still at high risk, which means that individuals cannot be fully protected from the potential high-tech crime, especially in the case of single-factor authentication method. In turn, this brings to the idea of the crucial necessity to establish two-factor authentication, as it is expected to be less vulnerable to particular attacks in comparison to any other existing methods. Aside from the general necessity of secure authentication that the financial institutions and other entities shall provide in order to prevent their clients from fraud, it is vitally important for individuals themselves to be prepared for the potential cybercrimes when possible. In this manner, people can double-check the payment systems they use or resort to for further clarifications when they suspect a potential threat. To be more precise, for instance, these individuals can contact their bank through the official telephone contact with a corresponding question. In addition, people should not disclose their card details to third parties and never share the received codes with anyone when logging into the bank account or while making online transactions.

The Case of Medical Records Identity Theft

Still, people can become victims of identity theft in a wide variety of ways. For instance, individuals can face a threat that implies the potential theft of their medical records identity. In this way, in 2021, a marketer from Louisiana was accused of healthcare fraud, which was in turn connected to the specific methods to defraud TRICARE (an official federal military healthcare program in the U.S.) and other programs which generally provide healthcare coverage for particular citizens. Basically, his scheme focused on obtaining individuals’ personal information, which was primarily related to the accused’s military acquaintances. Further, this information was used while filing fraudulent claims to various national public healthcare programs for disposable medical supplies. (The U.S. Department of Justice, 2021) Victims who were involved in this scheme did not directly endure the deception, yet the medical supplies ordered by the criminal were obtained with the use of their personal information. Additionally, the accused marketer recruited doctors to get prescriptions for expensive medicines in his scheme, which therefore shows the problem of bribing as well.

Methods to Prevent the Potential Threat of the Medical Records Theft

One way or another, medical records theft represents a broad range of possible crimes that can also involve the theft of people’s identity documents, such as their social security cards. Furthermore, people can receive significant bills for various medical supplies, which they neither ordered themselves nor received. Indeed, it is particularly difficult to protect oneself from this type of a criminal fraud, as various operations cannot be easy to observe. Indeed, in some cases, people may come to the hospital and be asked about certain health conditions, which one is not associated with (Knetzger & Muraski, 2008, p. 70). Furthermore, it may be difficult to regulate the medical records which were altered by the criminals due to the specific privacy rights and other regulations. Still, people can protect themselves by the mean of monitoring the status of their medical documents and not disclosing the data to third parties at any time. Additionally, the growing threat of the medical records theft should be still taken into due attention, as this problem is no less dangerous than any other type of theft. Therefore, it still should be recognized on the authority level, as the problems concerning the identity theft cases in the medical industry cannot be easily resolved by the individuals themselves.

References

Bani-Hani, A., Majdalweieh, M., & AlShamsi, A. (2019). Online authentication methods used in banks and attacks against these methods. Procedia Computer Science, 151, 1052-1059.

Brooklyn man pleads guilty to online identity theft involving more than $700,000 in reported fraud (n.d.). Department of Justice. Office of Public Affairs. Web.

Knetzger, M. R., & Muraski, J. A. (2008). Investigating high-tech crime. Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Louisiana Marketer Sentenced in More Than $180 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme. (n.d.) Department of Justice. Office of Public Affairs. Web.

Introduction

In accordance to the U.S. Postal Service, there were almost ten million cases of identity theft in the United States in 2004 at a cost of $5 billion to customers.

People worry that someone will put together charges on their credit card or swindle their bank account while people do not take care of the safety of their identity. There is a serious reason to worry. All a thief requires is the Social Security number to entrust identity theft. This crime is comparatively simple to entrust, but inspecting and impeaching it is compound and time-consuming. But once one knows the facts and some defensive undertakings one can take, one is able to win the fight against identity theft

In order to avoid it, people should always undertake some steps to defend themselves from Identity Theft. Protecting oneself does not have to be a time-consuming assignment. But people just need to follow some rules.

The risk of having the identity stolen

MySpace and Facebook are extremely popular websites that lots of people use to contact one another. Nevertheless, these can also be a “recreational area” for identity theft offenders. The personal data that people share on MySpace and Facebook is often amazing. People regard nothing to sharing their names, birthdays, and other individual data, yet it is noticeable for the entire world to see.

If it is wondering somebody how MySpace can put one at risk for individuality theft, it is necessary to mention, that it is not so much the website itself, it’s the data one shares on one’s own blog friends’ blogs already put one under risk.

The example may be the following: imagine that someone has not seen his or her friend for some time, and finding this friend in the social net puts alike comment “Hey, I’ll undeniably drop to you after I get home, as I haven’t seen your forages. Now, it’s off to the Caribbean for a week. C ya!” The data provided with this message is significant enough for any identity theft. He or she now possesses the data that the person will not be home and that the mailbox will probably be left unchecked for at least a week. And the criminal even does not have to know the place where the person lives.

Even people do not provide their addresses directly, they fill out the town they live in as part of the user profile and everyone has the friends list achievable to attendees who come to the user’s page, he can undoubtedly put the data together in as little as five minutes. Theft can collect bits of data from the remarks on the page and the comments on the friends’ pages to get to know the necessary address.

In case one has never heard of the term ‘phishing’; it essentially includes an experience of sending out fake e-mails to persons under the pretext of a well-known corporation. When the person who gets the e-mail clicks on the link included in the e-mail, they will be instantly taken to a website that will then demand that they enter aspects of their account. Sometimes, the counterfeit website will even swindle the graphics and logos of the corporation they are aiming for so that they look more genuine.

Some users mention, that there are generally a couple of signs that the website is not who it foreshadows to be, most users unluckily do not observe. One warning is that the website is never hosted at the web address where it needs to be. For instance, if the website is positioning itself as eBay, the address is somewhat besides www.ebay.com. Even so, lots of users do not succeed to mention and go ahead and penetrate all of their description elements. Before they get it to know, their identity can be stolen and the accounts eradicated. Moreover, the spammer who set off the dodge will have admission to the username and password with the capability to make all types of destruction in life.

Troubles with this practice are increasing at a stable rate. One of the ways this is achieved is by making a fake MySpace login page (or instance) with a free webpage in an effort to trick other consumers into giving up private data. Other comparable efforts comprise posting statements from within one’s own account. If one has observed statements depicting up on the account or remarks sent to the friends that one is certain to have never sent, this is a bright suggestion that someone else has admission to the account.

In an effort to fix this matter, lots of people have relapsed to altering their password when they perceive someone else applying their MySpace or Facebook account. Unluckily, there have been statements that this type of matter goes on even after they have modified their password. One motive for this could be that the password hint is quite simple to deduct. In other cases, the matter could be enduring because of the performer having access to the e-mail box. Consequently, they obviously get the new password each time it is changed. Consequently, changing the password is not preventing them out of the account at all. One way to fix this is to confirm that the person never adjusts the same password for your e-mail address and MySpace or Facebook account. They need to be completely different.

Some users note, that Roboform is also an outstanding way to administer passwords and save time also. Just a few of the characteristics Roboform brags comprise the capability to remember the passwords and log you in mechanically, fill out long register forms with one click, encrypt the passwords for total safety, create random passwords that cannot be suited by hackers, and filling passwords only on matching web pages.

Given the increase of individuality theft and phishing, it is essential that everyone pays notice to manners in which people can protect confidential data. Using a tool like Roboform not only keeps time but also imposes control of the confidential data back in the user’s hands-right where it is in the right place.

Anti-theft policy

Under the conformity, MySpace and Facebook have promised to work with the attorneys general on a set of regulations to struggle harmful material on social-networking pages, better instruct parents and schools about online hazards, cooperate with law empowering institutions around the state, as well as enhance new technology for age and individuality confirmation on social-networking web pages.

The attorneys general verified in a press conference that they wished to evade legal action against social networking web pages in general. “Litigation is costly, time-consuming, (and) undecided in its result,” Blumenthal noted. They also admitted that law enforcement administrators still don’t see eye-to-eye with social networking sites on a variety of issues, namely the feasibility of identity and age verification. The attorneys general believe it’s technically probable; Nigam and the rest of MySpace say it requires more expansion.

And also it is necessary to mention, that people need to realize that when one is exposing oneself individually on Web sites like Facebook or MySpace and putting personal data out there, the birthday, place of living, or even address, people are permitting stalkers and sexual marauders to feed off that data. People are also posing a hazard of individuality theft as well as stalking and being depicted to sexual marauders.

Conclusion

Ask any member of Myspace or Facebook whether their lives have changed since using these online social networking sites and they will likely tell you – after numerous wisecracks and paranoid responses – that their lives remain unchanged. They’ll contend that they still keep in touch with family and friends, despite spending many hours chatting online to people they will likely never meet face-to-face.

References

Abagnale, Frank Stealing Your Life: The Ultimate Identity Theft Prevention Plan Broadway publisher, 2007.

“Bebo’s Better Than Facebook and MySpace, Says Magazine.” Western Mail (Cardiff, Wales). 2008: 13.

Berson, Ilene R., and Michael J. Berson. “Privileges, Privacy, and Protection of Youth Bloggers in the Social Studies Classroom.” Social Education 70.3 (2006): 124.

“Let’s Face It, the Online Friends Are Here to Stay; Social Networking Websites Such as Facebook and MySpace Are Now as Familiar a Part of Some People’s Lives as Television and Mobile Phones. but Many Continue to Manage Perfectly without Them.” Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England). 2008: 22.

Financial fraud, a deliberate scheme to trick or deceive individuals, groups, or the government with the aim of monetary gain, is a common crime. From money laundering and tax evasion to bribery and corruption, financial fraud is a serious problem in the US and around the world. Among the different types of financial fraud is identity theft. Although identity theft does not always have financial gain as its primary goal, it almost inevitably leads to the person gaining access to the funds of the victim.

Identity fraud is the taking of someone else’s identity, such as by falsifying one’s documents and credit cards and pretending to be someone one is not. According to the US Department of Justice, some of the most common identity thefts include cyber-attacks via email, “pre-approved” credit cards and eavesdropping in public places (Identity Theft). In all of these cases, the naïve victim somehow becomes vulnerable to the perpetrator’s attacks, meaning that educating people on proper safety measures would prevent, or at least lower, the risk of identity theft. If the perpetrator is successful in his attack, he or she can gain access to the victim’s credit cards, bank, and online accounts and obtain various goods and privileges (Identity Theft). The latter is particularly relevant in the current environment due to the stimulus checks since having access to multiple identities gives criminals access to multiple stimulus checks.

Since identity fraud is a very common crime and has affected millions of people around the US at least once throughout their lives, recommended actions are readily available online. According to the US Department of Justice, suggestions include reporting fraud to the bank, blocking the credit card, and in some cases, filing a report to the police or to the FTC (Identity Theft). No matter what the causes of identity fraud, it is best to be cautious and prevent it from happening than to deal with the unpleasant consequences.

Work Cited

The United States Department of Justice. Identity Theft. 2020.

Introduction

The case study concerns the story of Ahmad, a United States resident who returned from his vacation to discover that he had been a victim of a variety of frauds that used his personal information. The thieves had withdrawn money from the victim’s account using a check, reactivated his credit cards and made purchases, had car repairs done under his name, and bought furniture using his credit. The method the thieves used to obtain Ahmad’s information remained unknown, but they had access to details such as his mother’s maiden name. Ultimately, he was able to prove his innocence and refund the fraudulent charges, taking measures to ensure that such an event did not occur again.

Bank Recommendations

There are two possible approaches JP Morgan could have used to ensure that the fraudulent incident did not occur. One involves confirming the cashing of every check with the owner of the account remotely, using their contact information. With this method, Ahmad would have been notified of the $7,200 withdrawal before it could occur and confirmed that the check was fraudulent. However, the tactic is inconvenient for both the bank and the owner of the account. Another tactic would be to allow the account’s owner to set the maximum sum that could be cashed via a check without their physical presence. Ahmad’s limit would be below $7,000, and the second transaction would be blocked, safeguarding most of his money.

Check Website Recommendations

The thieves could break into the victim’s check printing service account because of its inferior protection. All they required was information about the login and the answer to the secret question, which involved the personal information of Ahmad’s mother. The website should have used multifactor authentication, which Moore (2017) describes as highly effective at preventing most varieties of online fraud. With it, Ahmad’s account would have been inaccessible unless one had physical access to his phone. As such, he would be safe while out of the country, and any variety of intrusion would be highly challenging when he was in the United States.

Furniture Store Recommendations

Under the assumption that the store representative who interviewed the thieves was their associate, it is challenging to suggest ways to prevent fraud without inconveniencing legitimate customers. A financial transaction occurred, and the store used the money to purchase the furniture that was ordered. The store should have implemented better monitoring policies and discovered its employee’s suspicious activities earlier. Had it done so, the incident would not have occurred, and the thieves may have been caught.

Credit Card Company Recommendations

The credit card company was susceptible to the fraud because it failed to detect the fact that the people posing as Ahmad were not him. It required the man’s personal information, which they were able to supply due to his careless handling of mail. Collins, Ricks, and van Meter (2015) note that company personnel should require proper user identification, Ahmad’s ID, in this case. The thieves had a sufficiently convincing fake version to persuade the delivery driver, but the employees of a credit card company would have better methods of checking its authenticity. As such, they would have been able to detect a fake and contact the police.

Prevention Recommendations for Ahmad

Ahmad did not take the proper measures to safeguard his information or to make sure that his finances stay safe while he was out of the country. LaPiedra (2014) suggests that he should have begun worrying when he failed to receive several bills and credit card statements. Moreover, Ahmad should have notified his partnered financial institutions that he would be leaving the country. Had he done so, they would know that anyone claiming to be him or acting in his name was highly suspicious. As such, the credit card company would know that the application is fake, and the bank would hesitate before accepting the check.

Mitigation Recommendations for Ahmad

The thieves still had access to Ahmad’s personal information after the incident, though they were unlikely to use it again for fear of attracting the police’s attention. As such, he should have gone to all services that relied on it and made sure to reinforce their security in any way possible. Ahmad also should have demanded that the initial sum used for the testing be returned to him, as it was part of the overall fraud. It may not have been significant compared to the amount withdrawn with the second check, but it was still financial harm done by the scammers.

Phishing Website Detection

Most phishing websites with fake products attract users by offering unrealistically low prices and requiring confidential information before they can purchase the product. Hadnagy and Fincher (2015) recommend that the user thinks critically about the possibility and analyzes the URL to see whether it looks legitimate. It is generally easy to distinguish a fake review from a real one based on the lack of specifics or the repetition of specific points. Additionally, the visitor should be aware of what constitutes their personal information and leave the website when it tries to extract it from them. With these steps, they are likely to avoid most attempts at phishing that use fake storefronts, regardless of their reviews.

Conclusion

Ahmad became a victim of fraud because he did not secure his personal information adequately and because the companies that worked with him did not employ proper security measures. He should have taken care to ensure that no significant financial operations take place in his absence. The check printing service should have enabled multifactor authentication to block any intrusion attempts. The credit card company should have required identification before agreeing to reissue the cards, and other fraud protection steps should have taken place.

References

Collins, P.A., Ricks, T.A., & van Meter, C.W. (2015). Principles of security and crime prevention (4th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

Hadnagy, C., & Fincher, M. (2015). Phishing dark waters: The offensive and defensive sides of malicious emails. Indianapolis, IN: John Wiley & Sons.

LaPiedra, J.R. (2014). Identity lockdown: Your step-by-step guide for identity theft protection. Morrisville, NC: Lulu Publishing.

Moore, M. (ed.). (2017). Cybersecurity breaches and issues surrounding online threat protection. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.