Identity Theft in America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Identity Theft in America - Essay Example Simply it is all about â€Å"deterring, detecting and defending†. For example deterring efforts that a potential identity theft victim is asked to make include such things as placing a fraud alert in the credit report and going for a credit freeze. A credit alert can be either an initial one for just 60 days only or it can be an extended one. Deterring action might include even avoiding phishing scams. Websites which inveigle potential identity theft victims into phishing scams have to be avoided at all cost. Detecting is another effort that the potential victim would have to do in the process of transacting a deal. Successful detections are very far and few in between, despite ever increasing vigilance by federal and state anti-Identity Theft agencies. Implications of identity theft are diverse and complex. In the US such implications again assume a very risk-prone dimension after the 9/11 attacks. The US internal security environment has become so complex and the current efforts by federal and state law enforcement agencies to identify and prevent potential threats to national security are obviously on the rise. Recent measures at the both the levels include some seminal technologically advanced ones including those targeting identity thieves. Superior technologies are needed by law enforcement officials to deter and detect those identity thieves who increasingly adopt undetectable modus operandi to overwhelm and rob their would-be victims. The US law enforcement authorities have been baffled by the recent spate of crime involving identity theft and phishing scams. With an ever rising global tendency among consumers to shop online, a parallel but highly disturbing development has taken shape too, viz. a breed of thieves known as identity or cyber thieves. Indeed identity thieves is a general term applied to all those potential shady characters lurking in the internet or elsewhere with the