Welcome To Identity Theft Awareness

Identity theft is when identity thieves steal personal or business information from victims. This information could include bank accounts, credit card numbers, social security numbers, and PIN numbers. This information is used for taking money, gaining credit, gaining access to countries illegally, and committing crime in other people’s names so you do not get traced back to it. It can be done via phishing and viruses online, and by actually stealing wallets, dumpster diving, skimming credit cards at ATM machines, changing the victim’s address to divert billing statements, and pretexting, where they use false pretenses to obtain your personal information from financial institutions, telephone companies, and other sources.

Identity theft is a growing problem worldwide. It is the fastest growing crime in the United States and the United Kingdom and has surpassed drug trafficking as the number one crime (ftc.gov). Most people do not take the proper precautions to protect themselves from identity theft. We are trying to inform and educate themselves about the ways to do so.

Recovering from identity theft can take hundreds of dollars and many days or years repairing damage to one’s good name and credit record. Some consumers victimized by identity theft may lose out on job opportunities, or be denied loans for education, housing, or cars because of negative information on their credit reports. In rare cases, they may even be arrested for crimes they did not commit.

Site Navigation

You can either look to the right hand side of the page for the section entitled "Identity Theft Archives" or follow these links:

• Ethical Issues
• Ethical Values
• Kantian Theory
• Relevant Facts
• Citations
• Anti-Virus and Anti-Malware Software

Relevant Facts

What You Should Do

Install anti-virus and and anti-malware. Never put personal information onto email forms. Always send or recieve mail through secure and locked mailboxes. This includes a private email with a log-in. Use only one credit card for personal expenses and one card for business expenses. Monitor accounts online weekly, so you can catch it quickly. Destroy financial records, shred or burn, or lock them in a safe. Never give out your social security number, driver's license number, PIN numbers, passwords, unless you know the source and it is secure while you do it. Also instead of signing your credit card, write "See ID" or something like that.

Ways to Get Your Identity Stolen Online

Phishing: They pretend to be financial institutions or companies and send spam or pop-up messages to get you to reveal your personal information. (ftc.gov)

Viruses: By contracting a virus it may compromise the personal information on your computer, and it is to your benefit to be fully protected with an anti-virus and an anti-malware program.

Some Identity Theft Statistics:

1. It is the fastest growing crime in the United Kingdom and the United States (factsaboutidentitytheft.com)



2. 10 million people a year become victims of identity theft - thats 19 people per minute! (scambusters.org)



3. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, drug trafficking is now being replaced as the number one crime by identity theft. (scambusters.org)
   
   
4. About seven million illegal aliens are currently using stolen social security numbers for employment, which added a 10% surplus to Social Securty last year. (scambusters.org)
   

Types of Identity Theft

Here are the most prevalent types of identity theft according to factsaboutidentitytheft.com:

1. Credit Card Fraud (28%)



2. Phone and Utilities Fraid (19%)



3. Bank Fraud (18%)



4. Employment Fraud (13%)



5. Government Document and Benefits Fraud (8%)



6. Loan Fraud (6%)



7. Other (28%)

Kantian Theory Regarding Online Identity Theft

Reasons for Acting

1. Acting in accord with duty - Doing a moral duty for the wrong reasons
2. Acting from duty - Doing a moral duty because one feels like its the right thing to do

For-profit anti-virus companies are acting in accord with duty because they are making the product to protect people from what they feel is a threat, with the interest in monetary compensation, and only concerned for paying customers. However non-profit anti-virus companies are acting from duty because they feel they should put out protection for people, and they also feel it is important enough for people to have that it is free. Also a large number of people volunteer to help update and maintain the free anti-virus programs.

Categorical Imperative

Formula of Humanity as an End: "Always treat humanity whether in your own person or the person of another, always as an end and never merely as a means."

1. Ends - Things with value in and of themselves
2. Means - The way we go about achieving our ends
3. Mere means - Using someone only as a means and not considering them as an end in themselves

An example of this would be identity thieves propagating a virus which scans a person's computer for personal information including: credit cards, social security numbers, bank accounts, and tax information with the intent to steal it or sell it. This would be using the person's property as a mere means. You can tell if one is acting with Kantian Ethics by seeing if they are using respect.

Principles of Justice

Justice: Treating people with equal respect, assuming that all people have the same value or worth.

An example would be if somebody is stealing someone else's identity, they are treating themselves with greater value or worth than the victim, so therefore it is an injustice.

1. Liberty Principle: Each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive basic liberty compatible with a similar liberty for others.
2. Difference Principle: Social and economic inequality is structured in such a way that both are: a) reasonably expected to be to everyone's advantage and b) attached to positions and offices open to all.

Original Position

Hypothetical theory created by John Rawls which assumes bias is non-existent, ethical discussion is facilitated, where a consensus is not required, and that reflective equilibrium is applied.

• Reflective Equilibrium: Some inequalities are allowed, but they have to be to every one's advantage.

Veil Ignorance:

1. Assumes everyone is equal
2. No one knows their social status or power
3. Decisions are made that any rational person would make if s/he didn't know his/her individual characteristics, such as class, race, education, ability, or gender.

Ethical Values

Here are the ethical values involved with Identity Theft Awareness:

• Honesty - Don't lie or scam people to try and steal their identity
• Integrity - We should be able to trust people not to steal our identity
• Respect - Have respect for people's privacy and property
• Awareness - Keep yourself informed and educated
• Courtesy - Have the courtesy not to steal someones identity
• Fairness - It's not fair to someone's personal liberty to steal their identity
• Foresight - Have the diligence to stay informed and proactive about your security
• Imagination - Always imagine ways your identity could be stolen and take measures to counteract them
• Social Responsibility - One has the responsibility to not steal identities and to take action against those who do in some way.
• Trustworthiness - You should be able to have people trust you not to steal their identity
• Truthfulness - You have the responsibility to let people know they may be at risk and to turn yourself in if you've done it.

Ethical Issues

Identity theft violates many of our basic liberties including the following:

· We all have a right to our own persona without impersonation or duplication, especially for financial gains or to conceal ones true identity for the purpose of committing a crime.

· No one has the right to take what is not there’s. This includes an identity itself or the use of that stolen identity to steal money, credit, or anything else that can be acquired by these means.

· We all have a right to privacy and identity theft is serious violation of this right. The thief now has the ability to gain access to a number of the victim’s personal information including financial and banking records. Also, some of the ways thieves gain access to this information violates one’s privacy, whether it is malicious spyware or viruses that take the information from your computer or physically stealing or credit card, driver’s license or social security card.

· If your identity is stolen it presents the possibility that you could be accused and convicted of a crime that you did not commit because someone else used your personal information to conceal their true identity. This is a violation of your right to justice.

· Many of the malicious spyware and viruses can damage your computer and this violates your right of personal property protection.

All of these are examples of disrespect and therefore unethical according to Kant.

Anti-Virus and Anti-Malware Software

Here are a few mainstream, free anti-virus resources to help protect your computer. This is not advertising or guaranteeing that they will work, but that they can help and be useful tools.


Avast Anti-Virus

- Download Page

- Support


AVG Free Edition for Home

- Download Page

- FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) Page


Malware Bytes

- Download Page

- Support Forums


Spybot - Search & Destroy

- Download Page

- FAQ (Frequent Asked Questions) Page

- Support Forums

Citations

"More Facts About Identity Theft." FactsAboutIdentityTheft.com. 2007. Paradign Innovations, LLC. 11 May 2009 http://factsaboutidentitytheft.com/

"Chilling Identity Theft Facts." ScamBusters.org. 11 May 2009 http://www.scambusters.org/identitytheft.html

"About Identity Theft." Federal Trade Commission. Federal Trade Commission. 11 May 2009 http://ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/consumers/about-identity-theft.html#content