Computer Crime

Identity Theft
Student’s Name
Institution

Identity Theft
Identity theft is a criminal act where one acquires other peoples’ personal information with the intention of using it to commit a crime, obtain credit or even loans. This criminal act happens through shoulder surfing, stealing mail, email spam, hacking into online records and direct theft (Rouse & Teravainen, 2017). Over recent years, identity theft has become rampant due to the advancement in the internet technology such that it created a conducive environment for identity thieves. Private information such as Social Security number, credit cards numbers, names and addresses are what identity thieves are mostly after. In this context, the paper discusses identity as being more prone to theft because it is available, removable and concealable.
The internet has made private information readily available to identity thieves. Social media sites offer identity thieves access to the sites subscribers’ personal information such as names and address. Furthermore, other identity thieves use email spasm which lures unsuspecting individuals to the idea of being rewarded prizes in exchange for providing some of their private details. Hence, in the end, the data is stolen and used for criminal activities. Additionally, identity is easily removable from the internet social forums or discussion groups (Newman & McNally, 2015). Personal information is vulnerable to interception online, and identity thieves regul…