Consumer protection and legal frameworks

Identity theft is something that occurs in the United States on a daily basis. Identity theft occurs when someone's personal information is stolen and is used by the criminal to take on another person's identity. Identity theft includes the use of social security numbers, addresses, credit card and bank card numbers, driver's license information and any other personal information. In the 7/3/2006 issue of Business Week, Dean Foust explains that identity theft is really more hype than harm. This article discusses the public's hysteria which pertains to identity theft. He claims that the public over reacts with the issue of identity theft and it really is not as bad as it seems to be for the victim. Foust claims that although it is covered a lot in the media, the person who commits identity theft rarely does anything with the information that he/she obtain about another person. Is he really saying that people should not be worried about identity theft in this article? This essay will reflect on Foust's assumptions and claims regarding the seriousness of the identity theft problem in the United States today.

Today, as many as one in every four American is victim to an identity theft crime. There are many ways in which they fall victim to such a crime such as someone stealing their mail or digging through their garbage for papers containing personal information, eavesdropping on public transactions to obtain information, stealing personal information from a computer database, spam emailing, hacking and from organizations trusted with the information. In Foust's article, "ID Theft: More Hype than Harm," he claims that the person who steals the personal information from another person, in any form, rarely uses it for financial gain. " But for all of the drama over ID theft, what is not often pointed out is how rarely it results in actual financial loss for consumers. There's reason to believe that the actual losses may be a little more than a tenth of the $48 billion annual estimate that often gets thrown around." (Foust). There is really no way to determine the exact figure on how much is gained or lost financially. In many cases, the criminal is very professionally skilled in how the information is stolen and used. It may appear that the information is being used by the individual, but actually it is the actual criminal who is utilizing it, without the victim's knowledge. If done correctly, thieves can easily steal someone's identity and use it for months or years before the actual victim notices what is happening. Therefore, most identity thefts seem to go unnoticed, but maybe this is because of the professionalism and intelligence of the thief.

According to Foust, it is not easy to convert stolen data into money. Because of the media attention that identity theft is receiving today, many consumers are on alert for such activity and from the first indication that someone else is using their information, the consumer will call banks, credit card companies, license bureaus and other places and either cancel their accounts, report the possible theft, and information the agency that they suspect unauthorized use. However, there are many consumers who are not aware of what is happening until it is too late. For example, if a consumer has a checking account and does not use it for a month, the thief will have many days to reap havoc on the account. This can cause a lot of harm to the consumer. Although the media covers identity theft really well, there are still a large group of consumers who do not get the message and believe that such a crime would never happen to them.

Depending on the criminal, this statement may or may not be true. when someone steals another person's identity, within a matter of minutes, this criminal can assume the entire identity. If the criminal gets personal checking, banking or other financial information, they can easily turn this information into cash through the use of technology. In many places today, all one needs is a password to assess funds. There is no way to properly identify someone at an ATM or computer terminal. Therefore, if the criminal takes banking information and has a password, it can be only a matter of minutes before all of the victim's money is within the criminal's hands.

There are also those victims whose information is stolen from a particular company or organization. In this case, the criminal indirectly obtains the victim's personal information that is stored within an organization's system database. It has been known that personal information from corporations such as Wells Fargo and Time Warner have lost consumer information because their computers were stolen or information was extracted from their database in another form. In this case, the victim did not do anything and are not even aware that their information has been mishandled, stolen or lost. Cybersecurity is a main concern of many companies who handle stored personal data. The cyber security systems that are available are very effective in protecting the customer's information; however it would easily fall into the hands of the wrong person at any time. Therefore, when Foust claims that this type of identity theft should not cause alarm because of the infrequency of the activities, he is wrong. Although the cybersecurity systems are effective in many ways, people are learning new ways to get around these systems on a daily basis. The concern should always be present.

Another claim that is mentioned in Foust's article is that the victim usually knows the person who stole their identity. Although this is true, there are also those people who steal information who are strangers. " Fully one-fourth of the respondents in the 2003 FTC study who had been the victim of a financial fraud said they knew who had committed the crime, and in half those instances the perpetrator turned out to be a friend, relative, or neighbor." This clear shows that there is a need for alarm. If a victim cannot trust someone that they know, they surely cannot trust a stranger. Therefore, more harm than hype can be done. If a friend steals an identity. Not only is there a risk of financial failure or difficulty, but also the loss of a friend as well. When Foust claims that identity theft causes more hype than harm, he is clearly only thinking of the material effects of the crime and is not considering the emotional effects. If most identity theft is committed by people known by the victim, then it seems as if more harm than hype could occur in many different ways.

Foust writes in his articles that identity theft causes more hype than harm. He claims that the media has created such an atmosphere that many criminals do not use the stolen information and that there is not much to be worried about. He does not mention the various forms of identity theft and how the information can be use. The criminal does not have to use the information for financial gain alone. There are several other ways that a criminal can use one's identity such as for identification at a crime scene or at a traffic stop, to attend a school, to apply for driver's licenses or to apply for a job. The criminal doesn't necessarily run to the bank or credit card company with the information. There are several things that he/she can do with information other than obtain money. Would this not be a cause for more harm than hype?