Identity theft – The new digital scheme

What is Identity theft

Identity theft encompasses a broader variety of illegal activities carried out by criminals on other people’s personal information with malicious intentions i.e monetary gain by impersonating the victim. This may include activities like stealing social security numbers, stealing credit card information, and up-to-account takeover. From the information above, it can be seen that this illegal act of identity theft can be so daunting to victims as they can potentially lose their wealth to these criminals or even get to jail in case of misuse of their personal information. With this paper, we aim to address some of these problems through an identity theft system that will help members of the public to report to authorized agencies in order for them to secure the victim’s personal information.

Identity theft – illegal use of someone else’s personal information (such as a Social Security number) especially in order to obtain money or credit out of the person’s bank accounts. Identity theft is a serious offence and is punishable by the law.

Identity theft has had adverse effects on its victims. It includes:

Financial Toil –

The financial hardships that may be caused by identity theft can last for months or years after your personal information is exposed. Depending on the type of data identity thieves put their hands on, the hurdles in the recovery process can include:

Disputing an identity thief’s activity in your credit files and working to restore your good credit. Cleaning up and closing compromised bank accounts, and opening new accounts. Working with the Social Security Administration if an identity thief has used your Social Security number to obtain employment

Working with the IRS if you find that you’re a victim of tax refund identity theft or that an identity thief’s income, using your Social Security number, makes it appear you’re underreporting your income

Through account takeover, identity thieves can also take over your investment and other financial accounts, the impacts of which could affect your retirement, your mortgage, and your child’s education.

And identity theft isn’t necessarily something you can forget about, especially when it involves sensitive personally identifiable information like your Social Security number. Thieves may not use your information for months or even years waiting for a time when you may not be as attentive to the risk. Thieves can also sell personal information on the dark web. You may have to stay alert and watch for red flags indefinitely.

If your identity theft issue is so complicated that it requires expert advice, legal fees could add to the financial impact.

In fact, some victims end up reaching out to the government for assistance while recovering, which shows the potential magnitude of identity theft hardship.

Emotional Strain –

Perhaps a less obvious impact of having your identity stolen is the emotional toll that can accompany it. Identity theft is often a faceless crime that can trigger a host of emotional reactions. The first feeling that victims may experience is anger. But after the initial shock, other challenging and long-term emotions may come into play. For example, someone who steals your identity can commit crimes in your name, which can directly harm your reputation and be stressful to fix. If you’re applying for a job and a criminal record pops up in your background check, it may affect not only your employees but also your feelings of self-worth. Not only that, criminal identity theft could lead to your arrest before you’re able to clear up the confusion.

Victims could blame themselves or their family members for not being careful enough with their personal information.

Because identity theft can be anonymous, victims may experience feelings of helplessness. A 2016 Identity Theft Resource Center survey of identity theft victims shed light on the prevalence of this emotional suffering caused by identity theft:

74% of respondents reported feeling stressed
69% reported feelings of fear related to personal financial safety
60% reported anxiety
42% reported fearing for the financial security of family members
8% reported feeling suicidal

While you clean up the messy trail of ID theft, the emotional stress can disrupt your sleeping and eating, and lead to depression and isolation.

And what about the emotional stress of receiving calls from debt collectors? When someone else racks up debt in your name, it can be challenging to prove the debt isn’t yours. Plus, you need to take steps so the businesses and collections agencies stop reporting the debt as yours.

The rising cases of identity theft are so scary that governments and various interested organizations have joined hands together in their quest to fight cybercrimes including Identity theft. One such platform that has been there for a while is the USGov, US Department of Justice, Federal trade commission ( FTC ), and many more.

These platforms are educating the public about Identity theft, its forms, its effects and ways to curb this form of cybercrimes. Some of these platforms have programs and services that aid the public to file reports of any incidence of Identity theft. The latest and up-to-date news or information about Identity theft is always continually posted on these platforms.

There are 3 Bureau credit companies that work together to help victims of Identity theft by allowing them to create credit report alerts, these companies work together, once a report has been filed, the other two companies get notified about the reported incidence. In any case of Identity theft, you can file a report to your local police station, contact the departments concerned with identity theft, Us department of Justice is well known and they can be reached through the following phone number 1-877-438-4338. If you also prefer, you can file your report to the Federal trade commission ( FTC ).

To summaries it all

Criminals are everywhere, therefore everyone is expected to stay vigilant and responsible. With this system, everyone will have easy to access the identity theft system to relevant authorities whenever they feel like they are involved in an identity theft incident. With the integration of the various services of different organizations set up to fight identity theft, people won’t have to worry about not knowing where to start from and where to report the incident to. Also, the reporting activity will now be fast since the discussed implementation of the identity theft system can be accessed by anyone in the world, and appropriate agencies can take immediate actions against the criminals before they cause any further damage.