Identity Theft By: Caroline Branton, Laura Hunter, Sinead McFarlane

What is Your Identity Current and last five addresses Social Security number income and sources of income taxes paid criminal record financial status charitable donations what you have owned (cars, house, etc.) credit card numbers where you have traveled mother's maiden name

What is Identity Theft? It is when criminals assume your personal information and exploit it Often people steal your identity and credit card numbers so they can purchase personal items

How Thieves Get Your Identity When someone steals your personal information all a thieves needs is your birth date, name and social security number Internet shop store credit card numbers that thieves can steal. Hackers look for loopholes in ISPs to gain information.

How Thieves Get Your Identity Anytime you sign onto a site, buy something, browse, etc., you leave a mark; if you bought something, probably personal information. A hacker will go into a business’ account and download credit card numbers. They will probably also leave an easier entrance for themselves later.

How Thieves Get Your Identity Asking children in internet chat rooms for their parents information.

Why Someone Would Steal Your Identity The most common reason is to steal your money and buy items for personal gain If someone is in America illegally, they might steal someone’s identity An individual that is in debt, might steal someone’s identity

Cases Of Identity Theft Professional athletes have problems with identity theft, because their full names and birth dates are posted on the internet Athletes who have had Identity theft o Tiger Woods o Ty Law of New England Patriots o Steve Smith of San Antonio Spurs o Danny Wuerffel of the Washington Redskins

Laws The Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act of 1998 makes identity theft a federal crime, with 15 years sentence and a $250,000 All states, except for New York, Vermont, and Nebraska have identity theft laws. Hackers can be found liable for a felony if the monetary value stolen is above 5,000 dollars

How to Protect Yourself Against Identity Theft How to safely buy items on the internet: Stored value cards Online payment services like pay pal Small Lock Icon at the Bottom of Browser Digital Certificates and reading private policy Never give out social security number, birth date or mother ’ s maiden name Never give out passwords or user ID information Install a firewall on your computer

Works Cited Schaefer, Stephan.”Identity Theft and the Internet” < 02/schaefer> Keefe,Mike.”David Cagle’s Professional Cartoonist Index”. Msnbc. 14 Sept 2006