PRIVACY – IDENTITY
THEFT
Muhammad Amin Bandeali
CPSC- 548 – Dr. Jo

Overview
 What is Identity Theft?
 How many people become victims of ID Theft?
 Why do ID thieves do it?
 How does it affect you?
 Are you a victim of ID Theft?
 What steps can you take to avoid ID Theft? -
by Abagnale.
 National ID Card.
 REAL ID Act.

WHAT IS IDENTITY THEFT?
 Identity theft occurs when someone uses your
personally identifying information, like your
name, Social Security number, or credit
card number, without your permission, to
commit fraud or other crimes.

HOW MANY PEOPLE BECOME
VICTIMS OF IDENTITY THEFT?
 The FTC estimates that as many as 9 million
Americans have their identities stolen each year.
 About 37 million Americans were victims of
identity theft between 2003 and 2007.
 The frequency of identity theft is decreasing; there
were 10.1 million identity theft victims in 2003 and
8.4 million victims in 2007.
 Average loss was $5,720.
 In fact, you or someone you know may have
experienced some form of identity theft.
 Only 1 in 700 identity thieves get caught.

WHY DO IDENTITY THEIVES
DO IT?
 Identity thieves may do the following in your
name:
 rentan apartment
 obtain a credit card
 establish a telephone account
 get medical treatment

HOW DOES IT EFFECT YOU?
 Credit card
 They may open new credit card accounts in your
name. When they use the cards and don't pay the
bills, the delinquent accounts appear on your
credit report.
 They may change the billing address on your
credit card so that you no longer receive bills, and
then run up charges on your account.

HOW DOES IT EFFECT YOU?
(Cont.)
 Phone or utilities
 They may open a new phone or wireless account
in your name, or run up charges on your existing
account.
 They may use your name to get utility services
like electricity, heating, or cable TV.

HOW DOES IT EFFECT YOU?
(Cont.)
 Bank/Finance
 Create counterfeit checks using your name or
account number.
 Open a bank account in your name and write bad
checks.
 Clone your ATM or debit card and make electronic
withdrawals your name, draining your accounts.
 Take out a loan in your name.

HOW DOES IT EFFECT YOU?
(Cont.)
 Government
 Get a driver's license or official ID card issued in
your name but with their picture.
 Use your name and Social Security number to get
government benefits.
 File a fraudulent tax return using your information.

HOW DOES IT EFFECT YOU?
(Cont.)
 Miscellaneous
 Get a job using your Social Security number.
 Rent a house or get medical services using your
name.
 Give your personal information to police during an
arrest. If they don't show up for their court date, a
warrant for arrest is issued in your name.

ARE YOU A VICTIM OF AN ID
THEFT?
 If you are a victim of the ID theft, you need to
take the following steps:
 Filea police report
 Check your credit reports
 Notifying creditors
 Disputing any unauthorized transactions
 Change all account numbers immediately

ABAGNALE – “STEALING YOUR
LIFE”
 The author of \"Stealing Your Life,\" Abagnale
spent his youth stealing people's identities.
 After five years in jail, Abagnale reformed,
eventually teaching the FBI how to catch
white-collar criminals.
 His story was the basis for the 2002 movie
\"Catch Me If You Can\" starring Leonardo
DiCaprio.

WHAT STEPS CAN YOU TAKE TO
AVOID ID THEFT?
 According to Abagnale:
 Never Use a Debit Card or Check to make a
purchase
 Always make sure the online shopping store has
it's link starting with HTTPS which stands for
secured transport layer
 Sign up for a credit alerting system
 use a good anti-virus, phishing and firewall
software
 Always make sure the link that you click on from
an email is legit

NATIONAL ID CARD

NATIONAL ID CARD (Cont.)
 Events of 9-11 resurrected the debate over the National ID
Card for Americans
 Pros:
 More reliable
 Reduce illegal immigration
 Reduce crime
 Cons:
 Does not guarantee that the identity of an individual is that
person's actual identity
 Impossible to create a biometric based national id card that is
100% secure
 No evidence that national id cards reduce crime
 Easier for govt. to perform data mining on its citizens
 Very hard to erase wrong information from the record

REAL ID ACT

REAL ID ACT (Cont.)
 In May 2005, President George W. Bush signed
the REAL ID act.
 Requires every state to issue new driver licenses.
 Licenses must meet the following federal
standards:
 full legal name
 Dob
 Gender
 license number
 digital photograph
 legal address
 signature

REAL ID ACT (Cont.)
 PROS
 Law enforcement is easier
 Criminals cannot change their identity
 CONS
 Machine-readable information is easier to steal
 Every staff of govt. agencies would have access to
every information for every citizen
 Some say personal information floating around the
cyberspace is insignificant compared to what would
be available through real id act

REFERENCES
 Michael J. Quinn, “Ethics for the information age”,
Addison Wesley, 3rd edition.
 Andrea Coombes, “Expert advice – Tech-industry
experts tell how they avoid ID theft and other online
threats”, Market Watch.
 Consumer’s Union, “CONSUMERS UNION URGES
CONGRESS & STATE LEGISLATURES TO ADOPT
IDENTITY THEFT PROTECTIONS”,
http://www.consumersunion.org/finance/prevent_idthef
t.htm
 Federal Trade Commission, “Fighting Back Against
Identity Theft”,
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/