Identity Theft
Identity theft was first recognized in the 1990’s. Some define identity theft as the taking of their identities for unlawful purposes. Identity theft is categorized into 4 categories; financial identity theft, criminal identity theft, identity cloning, and business identity theft. Financial identity theft is described by using another’s name and social security number to obtain goods and services. Criminal identity theft is described as posing as another when apprehended for a crime. Identity cloning is described by using another’s information to assume his or her identity in daily life. Business identity theft is described as using another’s business name to obtain credit.
Now that I have described what identity theft is I would like to discuss a famous case. In some of my research I found a case that was considered to be one of the biggest identity theft cases. On July 22, 2004 Scott Levine, was charged with 144 counts of different frauds against him. His target was Acxiom Corporation. Acxiom Corporation is one of the biggest companies managing personal, financial and corporate data. They have clients such as GE, IBM and Microsoft. It was said that 8.2 gigabytes of data was stolen which then added up to over seven million dollars in losses. On August 12, 2005 Scott Levine was convicted of one hundred-twenty counts of unauthorized access of a protected computer, two counts of access device fraud, and one count of obstruction of justice. On February 22, 2006 Scott Levine was sentenced to 8 years in prison with no parole.
It is quite scary that a big company such as Acxiom could be affected by identity theft. But every one of us can also be affected by this growing trend.
I have found several tips to protect you from identity theft. Be aware of your surrounding around ATM and stores which you slide your own card. Thieves stand close enough to see which numbers are pushed for your pin. Keep up with your credit card receipts...