Computer Crime

Identity Theft
Student’s Name
Institution

Identity Theft
Identity theft is a criminal act where one acquires other peoples’ personal information with the intention of using it to commit a crime, obtain credit or even loans. This criminal act happens through shoulder surfing, stealing mail, email spam, hacking into online records and direct theft (Rouse & Teravainen, 2017). Over recent years, identity theft has become rampant due to the advancement in the internet technology such that it created a conducive environment for identity thieves. Private information such as Social Security number, credit cards numbers, names and addresses are what identity thieves are mostly after. In this context, the paper discusses identity as being more prone to theft because it is available, removable and concealable.
The internet has made private information readily available to identity thieves. Social media sites offer identity thieves access to the sites subscribers’ personal information such as names and address. Furthermore, other identity thieves use email spasm which lures unsuspecting individuals to the idea of being rewarded prizes in exchange for providing some of their private details. Hence, in the end, the data is stolen and used for criminal activities. Additionally, identity is easily removable from the internet social forums or discussion groups (Newman & McNally, 2015). Personal information is vulnerable to interception online, and identity thieves regularly remove and replicate personal files on the internet.

Consequently, the internet has made identity theft concealable. In this case, one can easily steal private information from unsuspecting individuals from halfway across the world.
Besides, information systems on the internet offer an excellent opportunity for identity theft crime. It offers multiplicity character to identity thieves. They can commit a single crime to many unsuspecting people at the same time thus acquiring multiple personal and financial information. Moreover, it gives identity thieves anonymity which provides them with an environment for doing criminal activities without being identified.
To prevent identity theft, people should continuously check their credit reports and follow up with their creditors to confirm if there are missing bills. Furthermore, individuals should always keep their credit and Social Security cards in a secure location and sign up with social accounts that ensure a high level of security of their sensitive data. Additionally, they should avoid responding to unsolicited emails with any personal information.

References
Newman, G., & McNally, M. M. (2005). Identity theft literature review.
Rouse, M., & Teravainen, T. (2017, April). What is identity theft? – Definition from WhatIs.com. Retrieved November 23, 2018, from https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/identity-theft