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Tiffany Johnson

English 1201

Instructor, Brett Sipes

April 11, 2019

Identity Theft “Catch Me If You Can”

Imagine waking up from a knock on your front door, it is the police. You are under arrest

for credit card fraud. What’s happening? Did you commit the fraudulent act? No, so why are you

being arrested? Well let me answer that, you are under arrest for a crime you did not commit

because someone stole your identity. It happens more often than people like to believe. Identity

theft is a serious problem that has been happening for a very long period of time. In America

there are over 9 million victims of identity theft that takes place every year. Research shows nine

out of ten American homeowners have concerns about becoming victims. This is the most rapid

growing type of fraud in the country. In order to prevent yourself from being a victim of identity

theft, there are many actions you may take. This paper will attempt to more thoroughly define

identity theft. It will give examples and show ways in which this very easily committed crime

can be avoided. In extreme case that a person is a victim of identity fraud, to show the steps one

can take to get their lives back on track.

The history of identity theft began around the 1950’s prior to when our 49th state joined

the United States. Identity theft use to be a physical issue. The criminal would murder the victim,

and then take the name and personal information of the victim. According to identity guard.com

identity theft is defined as, “when someone uses your name or personal information to open a
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credit account, take out a loan, or make a major purchase. There are many ways a person’s

identity can be stolen. Some of the many ways are dumpster diving, skimming, phishing,

changing your address, old-fashioned stealing, and pretexting. Dumpster diving is exactly what it

sounds like someone digging through a dumpster, in the trash that people have thrown out of

their homes, to retrieve information. They use your bills, and other resources with your

information on it to steal your identity. Skimming is when they steal your credit and debit card

numbers by using a special device when processing your card. This could happen at restaurants

when the waiter takes your card to the back; Phishing is when the thief pretends to be a financial

institution or company and sends pop-up messages to get you to reveal your personal

information. This could happen on e-mails when you think it is a store you have purchased an

item from. By changing your address the thief changes the original mailing address to the

address that will be easy for them to obtain your information instead of taking it directly out of

your mailbox or from the dumpster. Old fashion stealing is when they take your purse and

wallets; Pretexting is when they use false pretenses to obtain your personal information from

your financial institutions, telephone companies and other sources.

We all believe that identity theft will not happen to us and become less likely to focus on

protecting our personal information. Yet, most people say I do not know anyone that would do

such harm to me. It is the most common theft that most victims share. I’m an expert on the topic

because I myself was and still is a victim. Ten years ago my purse was stolen from me. My credit

never once crossed my mind. I was more concerned about the cash and my personal information,

not because I feared someone would use it, but because I knew it would be a hassle trying to get

all of my documents all over again. I didn’t report it at the time because I assumed they would

take the cash and ditch the purse. It wasn’t until 5 years later I discovered someone had been
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using my name when I went to get an auto loan. Apparently, they beat me to it and now I don’t

qualify. I then filed a police report but by this time they had a 5 year head start. The police done

nothing and still as of yet found this woman. I even obtained the address of the home she

purchased in my name reported to the fraud detective and he said it’s out of his jurisdiction

because she is in another county. I called the police for the county she is in and they told me to

call my Attorney General called them and filled out paper work and still nothing that was 4 years

ago. I’m having a harder time proving I’m myself than a victim. I even called the news to see if

they would ride along with me to put my story on live TV since I have her address. So far that I

know of she has purchased a home, a car and some rented furniture all in my name. She has

officially gotten away with fraud. I can’t even obtain one of my credit reports because their

asking me how much was the house you purchased or how much was your car loan? I have no

idea because it’s not me. I will not give up no matter how long it takes.

The first thing to do if you suspect your personal information has been misused to

commit fraud or theft act immediately, and keep a detailed record of all conversations. You will

need to contact the fraud departments of each the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian

and Transunion. Next, close the accounts that you know or believe have been tampered with or

opened fraudulently. Lastly, contact your local police or the police in the community where the

theft took place. If you become a victim of identity theft involving federal education funds or

suspect that your student information has been stolen you will need to contact U.S. Department

of Education.

To guard yourself against identity theft, never give out your social security number.

Commit all passwords to memory, never write them down or carry them with you. When using

ATM machine, make sure no one is watching over your shoulder and can see you enter your
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password. When participating in online auction, try to pay the seller directly with a credit card so

you can dispute the charges if the merchandise does not arrive or was misrepresented. If possible

avoid paying by check or money order. Tell your children never to give out their address,

telephone number, password, school name, or any other personal information. Make sure that

access to the internet at your children’s school is monitored by adults. You may also want to

consider protection from one of many companies like Lifelock. Lifelock, is a company that

offers identity theft protection. It is intended to detect fraudulent applications for varies credit

and non-credit related services. If you become a victim while using this service their Identity

Restoration Specialist will work with you from start to finish helping you to resolve the issue. If

you have any money stolen they will replace it.

While everyone may point fingers at the thief, they are not solely to blame for the crime.

The victim is actually more at fault here than anyone else. While there are many ways in which

their identity can be stolen, there are even more courses of action they can take to protect

themselves. For some, the identity theft recover process can take years, and there have even been

reports of theft victims still trying to recover decades after the fact. The victim is normally left in

disbelief and panic usually gives way to frustration and anxiety quite fast. For many, having their

identities hijacked is just the start down a long and difficult road. Dealing with the clean-up can

bring on feelings of depression, worry, anxiety and vulnerability. Even after recovering

financially, it may take much longer to find a peace of mind. But any victim of identity theft can

struggle for far longer than he or she might expect. Some get hit multiple times, compounding

the problem and pushing out their recovery period. Most Americans are familiar with identity

theft but aren’t well-informed about the influence it has on the economy in addition to
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individuals. They are not knowledgeable about the laws that are meant to protect consumers and

are not mindful of the ways to protect themselves. This is what makes identity theft so effective.