The U.S government should give harder sentences to identity theft convicted criminals. Rodolph Thermitus CIS 1055 Section 007

An overview of Identity theft! Identity theft is a very serious issue, so serious that it has been considered to be one of the most expensive crime to fight in the United States. As of July of 2010, statistic actually showed that identity theft rose a staggering 15% from the year before, this is very frightening for citizen in this country be Whit identity theft rising at this paste, what does that means for the protection of the rest of us, who luckily have not yet been a victim of such a crime? The way things are looking right now any of us can become a victim.

Personal story about identity theft If identity theft criminals understand that if when they lawfully get convicted for stealing someone’s identity, they will have to face tougher sentences, we would see a less identity theft committed. One of my friend was a victim of identity theft and this has devastated her life. Once it happened all her rights had been violated at that point. There became two of people of one. She has been duplicated. She had became very depressed over something she knew she had no control over, and that made her realized that her existence in this life was not necessary. Seriously, that is all her word, I wrote them as I remembered them. I was so socked when she said that. Obviously I was so scared that I may have lost her over something so small. To me it was simple. Make a police report and fallow trough everything should be ok. That was just in my head_ but that is not how issues like this have been dealt with. I only started to thing about how serious she saw when she went on to mention, “its much more complicated. My identity is the only secretive things that I used to know for sure, that no one else can ever take from me. I can no longer say that.”

Very interesting facts about identity theft I want to ask you a question for you in the audience, I am jut curious. Have you or someone close to you been a victim of identity theft? If yes I am sure you know how that feels, if your answer is no, I have some very bad news for you. Currently there are about 8.4 million victims of identity theft in the U.S.. 1in 20 citizens in the U.S. will become a victim of identity theft.

The government step to fight Currently the sentences that an identity theft convicted criminal will get is so short that most criminal, on a average serve six months to a year and once come out jail, they go back and continue their same activities. For example: Not all identity theft consider to be on the same level of crime in the court of law. Let see how the state of PA classify Identity theft. The PA cont. Stat. tit. S 4120 _ >$2000 misdemeanor of the first degree. <$2000+ the offense is consider as felony of the third degree. So you why, the number of identity theft cases in PA, is also on the rise. Source:

Victim complaints Some of the most frequent complaints that the identity Theft Resource Center(ITRC) encounters are from victims who feel as though law enforcement just doesn’t care. Victims (sic) feel that law enforcement officer does not consider identity theft important enough to spend time on and, that law enforcement (sic) think that the consumer is not really a victim. Source:

Best ways to protect yourself! First protect your personal information Keep your cards, documents, and passwords safe Monitor your financial accounts and bills Check your credit report frequently

What the government have to do? Identity theft can’t be categorize into a lesser crime, it should be a criminal offense and criminal needs to be put in jail for longer time. Until the laws change, expect predict it will only rise because the benefits are basically outweigh the lost of getting caught and going behind bars for six months.

Work cited Morton, Heather. "Identity Theft State Statutes." NCSL. National Conference of State Legislatures, 31 Aug Web. 16 Nov "Identity Theft." The united States Department of Justice. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov Zemlicka, Jack. sequence inc. Wisconsin Law Journal, n.d. Web. 15 Nov Notes for copying and pasting: Francois, Barbara. Personal interview. 13 Nov

Questions? Please feel free to ask your questions!