Identity theft is a prevalent crime that costs victims extensive time and money. Cyber-crime is a rapidly rising venue for identity theft. My research entails compilation, investigation, and documentation into the computing technologies used to commit these white-collar crimes. This research will provide a valuable tool for law enforcement, businesses, and private individuals; thus, helping them to identify trends and take appropriate defensive measures.
There are currently no public charts categorizing and exposing the prevalence of which computing technologies are used in the commission of these crimes. This research will provide innovative documentation that may be used as a tool to avert cyber-crime.
Extensive Internet research, library and publication research, personal interviews, and experimentation will be used in the compilation of this prose.
Approximately 10 million Americans were victims of identity theft last year with losses totaling $50 billion and 300 million hours. Identity theft and cyber crime, considered white-collar crime, are on the top ten lists of priorities for most of the major government agencies; most cases have proven illusive to prosecution. There has been a staggering increase in the reports of identity theft and cyber crime over the past several years; from 1999 to 2002 the number of victim reports rose from 1,380 to 161,819. This rise parallels the rise in the computer industry and the Internet. Techniques for identity theft range from dumpster diving to international cyber crime syndicates with large databases of identity information on current and future victims. This research comprehensively investigates identity theft, focusing on identity theft via cyber crime from a computing and networking perspective. I have also produced a website which indexes identity theft Internet resources (of course you know this because you are here). Work in progress.
The reader will gain a comprehensive understanding of the underlying technologies and trends of identity theft exploits via cyber-crime. This research provides a vital tool in the struggle against these crimes.