History Of Identity Theft: A Brief Look At The History of Identity Theft

A Brief Look At The History of Identity Theft

By Security Editor

Credit cards, by their sheer number and indispensable role in consumerism, could be said to have spawned a history of identity theft in America ...

The early history of identity theft is closely allied with the history of the credit card. First appearing in American literature in the mid 1990s, identity theft's first targets were said to be consumers. Credit cards, by their sheer number and indispensable role in consumerism, could be said to have spawned a history of identity theft in America.

In the mid 1990s, 65% of American adults owned, at least, one credit card. That number has since exploded by, at least, an additional 3 million new credit cardholders each year.

After a decade, the history of identity theft was marked by a rapid growth in criminal activities that seemed to be spurred by each new growth in the credit card industry.

By 2005, 67% of all reported identity theft victims complained to the Federal Trade Commission that the thieves misused their credit card accounts. That translates into a staggering 6.5 million identity-theft victims in a single year alone.

History of Identity Theft - Playing Catch-Up

It is a phenomenon that has displayed itself not only in the history of identity theft and credit cards but in any industry that grows at such a fast rate: it becomes more susceptible to fraud designed by those taking advantage of rapidly emerging opportunities for crime.

Since industry growth happens at lightning speed, businesses cannot adapt fast enough so criminal elements can take advantage of outdated security and laws. This is most apparent in the history of identity theft over the Internet.

New Antivirus software cannot keep up with the rate at which new malware (whose sole reason for existence is to harvest personal information from your PC!) is written. And even the government has found it hard to keep up.

History of Identity Theft - Dangers of e-Government

In July 2005, a resident of Hamilton, Ohio fell pray to identity thieves after they got her personal info from the Hamilton country website. The thief went shopping on her card, spending $20,000. The woman has been very careful with her personal data, but her state's e-government program made her vulnerable.

The Hamilton county clerk's office eventually removed personal data from the county website. But since it involved 20 million pages it took one month.

The same incident has happened in other parts of America. As late as the spring of 2006, Florida had the personal info of its citizens (from 1978!) published on the Internet.

It was unbelievable that, despite wide knowledge about the history of identity theft and the damage it had left in its wake, the Florida state government had published online driver's license, social security, and even bank account numbers!

Next article: Signs Of Identity Theft

Email this page to a friend

Featured Security Product:

	How To Win Any Fight In Under Three Minutes
	90% Of What You Learn In Strip Mall Dojo's, Martial Arts Schools, Self Defense Seminars And DVD's Will Get You Killed In A Real Attack On The Street ... Click here for more details ...

More Articles About Identity Theft ...

An Overview Of Fraud Alerts And Identity Theft Reports
If you have become the victim of identity theft, there are certain reports you need to provide that will help you resolve credit problems. First of all, you want to be sure a Fraud Alert is issued and...

How Privacy Laws Help Prevent Identity Theft
Preventing identity theft has been successful, not only because of public vigilance, but also because of government measures. Based on Federal Trade Commission statistics, the growth of identity theft...

A Brief Look At Credit Card Identify Theft
People who want to steal your identity do so in many different ways. One of the ways is by calling you on the telephone. This is a form of what is known as phishing - fishing for information about you...

Recommended Identity Theft Protection Resources

Stealing Your Life: The Ultimate Identity Theft Prevention Plan

When Frank Abagnale trains law enforcement officers for the FBI's National Academy about identity theft, he asks agents for their addresses and nothing more. The next day, he returns with everything he would need to steal their lives: Social Security numbers, dates of birth, current salary, checking account numbers, the names of everyone in their family, and more. This illustrates how easy it is for anyone from anywhere in the world to assume our identity and, in a matter of hours, devastate our lives in ways that can take years to recover from. Considering the fact that a fresh victim is hit in the U.S. every four seconds, Stealing Your Life is the reference everyone needs, by an unsurpassed authority on the latest identity-theft schemes.

LifeLock is the only Identity Theft Prevention Solution backed by a one-million dollar guarantee!Click here to get a 10% discount.

For more information about Identity Theft-related resources, see our Security resources section, subscribe to our Security Newsletter containing news, updates and insider tips, or go to more articles about History Of Identity Theft.