Idenitity Theft

Identity Theft Soars... Is the Internet to blame?

Identity theft reaches new heights thanks to new technologies, light penalties and widespread publicity.

From computers and consoles to fridges and faxes, technology has progressively occupied more and more facets of everyday life. The Internet has become prevalent in today's technology-driven world and it is estimated that one billion people will utilise this technology by 2005. (http://www.usabilitynews.com/news/article637.asp) Consequently, with such vast technological advancements and such large Internet user increments, fraud, including identity theft, has also increased dramatically. In fact, 204,000 fraud complaints were filed in 2001 (double the number filed in 2000) and of the 204,000 filed, 42% were reports of identity theft. (http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/15965.html) Although the obvious reason behind this rise was due to the implication and development of the Internet, many people, including Dana Blankenhorn of Clickz.com, believe that "While the problem of identity theft is real, huge, and growing, blaming it on the Net is not just wrong, but monstrously wrong." (http://www.clickz.com/article.php/839241) Is the Internet really this innocent? Is there something else causing the huge rise in identity theft?

To answer this question, we need to know exactly what identity theft is, how your identity can be stolen and what occurs after your identity has been pilfered.

When someone steals your personal information, that is, your credit card number, Social Security number and other private details in order to commit a fraud or theft in your name, your identity has been "stolen".

Theft of this information can occur both on and offline and there are numerous ways in which your details can be obtained. These methods include, wallet/purse stealing, mail stealing, trash rummaging, business record stealing, Internet scams and the purchase of personal information via the Black market.

Once your personal information has been obtained, the offender may abuse your identification details for his or her benefit in a number of different ways. These include, the opening of, and writing of bad cheques to a false bank account, the counterfeiting of cheques and debit cards in order to drain your bank account, the purchase of cars via auto loans, or even the opening of a new, and soon to be, unpaid credit card accounts, resulting in tainted credit ratings.

Now, at a glance, it seems that the Internet plays little to no role in the theft of identity. Of all the main identity acquisition