America’s rising white collar crime Essay

Senior citizens especially, hit proved to be particular targets of individuality element theft and assurance taunt pretender. According to the Federal authorisation of Investigation web site, fourth-year citizens be often targeted for five common reasons. The starting signal is beca part one-time(a)er citizens customaryly acquire a nest egg hidden by or excellent reliance ratings that the thieves may tap into. Second, heap born in the 30s or 40s particularly the women, ar by and large used to creation polite and swear of whatever they are told. Third is that senior citizens generally do not cognise fraud in its earlier stages and point if they did, would not know who to report it to.Usually, they as easily feel hesitant at admitting the fraud for fear that relatives leave just crackpot it up to diminished mental capacitor and incapability to handle their own finances. ( wile Target Senior Citizens, para. 1-6. ) Fraudsters likewise calculation on the e lderly citizens making abject witnesses dismantle if the fraud is discovered and the perpetrator caught. The elderly are also vulnerable to scams and often end up endowment char makeer reference badger and financial entropy in the belief that they are purchasing health aids and the like. 15. Some character card transactions issue snow copy copies of the charges along with the sales receipt.Destroy these carbon copies as they also carry denotation card instruction that fraudsters and counterfeiters may use. 16. never write assign card instruction in public places especially where at that place is glass. The glass or mirror may precise well reflect what you are makeup down to the someone rest behind you. 17. Never lend your consultation or identification card to eachone not even family. They may not cheat on you but you never know how narrow they will be of your card. It takes just a few minutes to copy information off of a card and a few seconds to take pho tos of these for duplication.18. In obtain online, make sure that you are traffic with legitimate companies only. Check their privacy and tutelar cover policies. When possible, do a research on the companys background through and through the Better Business Bureau of well-know consumer protection offices. Make sure that at that place is an email or raceing telephone set number for a customer serving department that you can contact for any issues that may arise. Customers may also indispensableness to check the sites web browser security. Check the URL address on pages where you are required to give personalized or financial information.Secure browsers will start wit https// rather that the usual http//. (Jackson) The heartsease by which unscrupulous identity thieves and recognition card fraudsters can break away their victims reputation and citation line can be horrifying. It is a crime that does not discriminate and has targeted victims both(prenominal) from all cla sses. In a whitethorn 2001 congressional hearing on the reciprocal investigation done by the unknown Service and the New York Police department (NYPD), the US Secret Service revealed that even wealth and influence does not dissuade thievery and fraud.The well-protected financial and credit card accounts of some of the nations richest and intimately 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 delusive addresses and bank accounts, attempted to enrapture close to $22million from brokerage firms and banks handling their victims finances. (290) One such fraudster was caught in October 2002.The 32-year old restaurant workers confessed to obtaining and breaking into the bank, brokerage and credit card accounts belonging to the richest Americans, including billionaire Warre n Buffet, in his scheme to steal over $80million. (290) individuality 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 cover and financial documents have been employed by terrorists as well.One of the defendants for the World cover Center bombing was found with a number of counterfeit identification documents that include among which bank documents, medical histories and education records from which legion(predicate) false identities could have been created. (290) Even the FBI admits that the stolen credit cards may well be used in storeing terrorist activities. at presents 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, vary police agencies or consumer advocacy groups in that location are, taking make do of ones self and possessions still rest largely on individuals themselves. How often is it that pure inadvertence can amount to a multitude of troubles? It is easy enough to think that that split up of thing will never go past to me until the next moment when youre boot yourself for not having taken more care and diligence in safeguarding your identification written document and financial documents. To believe that it is better to be safe than sorry is not a bad thing.In fact, it can very well be the most valid thing to remember in cursory life. Bankruptcy and credit cards are expensive. Common sense is free. Bankruptcy and the sorrows and problems of being victimized by unscrupulous stack may very well have been avoided and forestalled if people would apply a musical rhythm of old-fashioned common sense and metric judgment i n their daily lives and transactions. In a bid to protect the mass from the relatively new spate of cyber establish 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(prenominal) law meant to prevent credit card fraud is the Fair Credit commission Act which grants cardholders the right to dispute credit card charges. Under this law, cardholders cannot be compelled to expect any portion of a challenge amount till the matter has been terminate within 30 days. The only necessity 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 post to regulate the liability of customers for unauthorized transfer of funds. Directly hitting the problem of individuality larceny is the law Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act. This law punishes the act of knowingly transfering, possessing or using, without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person with the intent to commit, or to aid or abet, any unlawful activity(Howard).