America’s rising white collar crime Essay

Senior citizens especially, have proved to be particular targets of identity theft and credit card fraud. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation web site, senior citizens are often targeted for five common reasons. The first is because older citizens usually have a â€Å"nest egg† hidden away or excellent credit ratings that the thieves may tap into. Second, people born in the 30’s or 40’s particularly the women, are generally used to being polite and trusting of whatever they are told. Third is that senior citizens generally do not recognize fraud in its earlier stages and even if they did, would not know who to report it to. Usually, they also feel hesitant at admitting the fraud for fear that relatives will just chalk it up to diminished mental capacity and incapability to handle their own finances. ( â€Å"Fraud Target: Senior Citizens,† para. 1-6. ) Fraudsters also count on the elderly citizens making poor witnesses even if the fraud is discovered and the perpetrator caught. The elderly are also susceptible to scams and often end up giving credit card and financial information in the belief that they are purchasing health aids and the like. 15. Some credit card transactions issue carbon copies of the charges along with the sales receipt. Destroy these carbon copies as they also carry credit card information that fraudsters and counterfeiters may use. 16. Never write credit card information in public places especially where there is glass. The glass or mirror may very well reflect what you are writing down to the person standing behind you. 17. Never lend your credit or identification cards to anyone not even family. They may not cheat you but you never know how careful they will be of your cards. It takes just a few minutes to copy information off of a card and a few seconds to take photos of these for duplication. 18. In shopping online, make sure that you are dealing with legitimate companies only. Check their privacy and security policies. When possible, do a research on the company’s background through the Better Business Bureau of well-known consumer protection offices. Make sure that there is an email or working phone number for a customer service department that you can contact for any issues that may arise. Customers may also want to check the site’s browser security. Check the URL address on pages where you are required to give personal or financial information. Secure browsers will start wit https:// rather that the usual http://. (Jackson) The ease by which unscrupulous identity thieves and credit card fraudsters can ruin their victim’s reputation and credit line can be horrifying. It is a crime that does not discriminate and has targeted victims both from all classes. In a May 2001 congressional hearing on the joint investigation done by the Secret Service and the New York Police Department (NYPD), the US Secret Service revealed that even wealth and influence does not deter thievery and fraud. The well-protected financial and credit card accounts of some of the nation’s richest and most influential men have been compromised by identity thieves and credit card fraudsters. (Dutta 290) With the use of mobile technology such as mobile phones and the Internet, the fraudsters were able to obtain their victims’ credit card numbers and by creating fictitious addresses and bank accounts, attempted to transfer around $22million from brokerage firms and banks handling their victim’s finances. (290) One such fraudster was caught in October 2002. The 32-year old restaurant workers confessed to obtaining and breaking into the â€Å"bank, brokerage and credit card accounts belonging to the richest Americans, including billionaire Warren Buffet, in his scheme to steal over $80million. † (290) Identity theft is not limited to purposes of financial gain either. Illegal immigrants have been known to use fraudulent and stolen identification cards and documents so they may obtain work and residency. The past years of terrorist threats reveal that this ease in stealing and counterfeiting identification papers and financial documents have been employed by terrorists as well. One of the defendants for the World Trade Center bombing was found with a number of counterfeit identification documents that included among which â€Å"†bank documents, medical histories and education records from which numerous false identities could have been created. â€Å"† (290) Even the FBI admits that the stolen credit cards may well be used in funding terrorist activities. Today’s modern and computerized lifestyles and services have made everything so convenient. People would well be guided however in remembering that this convenience comes with a price. No matter how many consumer help lines, specialized police agencies or consumer advocacy groups there are, taking care of one’s self and possessions still rest largely on individuals themselves. How often is it that pure carelessness can amount to a multitude of troubles? It is easy enough to think that â€Å"that sort of thing will never happen to me† until the next moment when you’re kicking yourself for not having taken more care and diligence in safeguarding your identification papers and financial documents. To believe that it is â€Å"better to be safe than sorry† is not a bad thing. In fact, it can very well be the most sensible thing to remember in everyday life. Bankruptcy and credit cards are expensive. Common sense is free. Bankruptcy and the sorrows and problems of being victimized by unscrupulous people may very well have been avoided and forestalled if people would apply a measure of old-fashioned common sense and careful judgment in their daily lives and transactions. In a bid to protect the citizenry from the relatively new spate of cyber based crimes the U. S. Congress has passed several laws meant to prevent identity theft. One of these laws is the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which compels credit reporting agencies to disclose to people the contents of their own records and to correct mistakes if any. Another law meant to prevent credit card fraud is the Fair Credit Billing Act which grants cardholders the right to dispute credit card charges. Under this law, cardholders cannot be compelled to pay any portion of a disputed amount till the matter has been resolved within 30 days. The only requirement is for cardholders to notify the card issuer in writing within 60 days. Another protective law is the Federal electronic fund transfer act, which regulates the use of plastic cards and other access devices such as credit cards and ATMs. The act also gives the Federal Reserve Board the power to regulate the liability of customers for unauthorized transfer of funds. Directly hitting the problem of Identity Theft is the law Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act. This law punishes the act of â€Å"‘knowingly transfer[ing], possess[ing] or us[ing], without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person with the intent to commit, or to aid or abet, †¦ any unlawful activity'†(Howard).