In an effort to stay ahead of law enforcement agencies, criminals often adopt new methods. Identity theft is one of the new crimes that law enforcement agencies have had to respond to. Essentially, identity theft involves assuming another person’s private information with the aim of obtaining some financial gain. It is reported that there is an increase in cases of identity theft. This is evidence that identity theft is on an upward trajectory.
As noted above, cases of identity theft have registered an increase. This can be taken as indication that identity theft is becoming a more serious challenge for law enforcement officials. In 2016, it was estimated that as many as 15.4 million Americans suffered some form of identity theft (Sullivan, 2017). This is the highest number of reported cases of identity theft. In this same year, American victims of identity theft lost $16 billion. To understand the increase in the number of reported cases of identity theft, it is necessary to observe that in 2015, this number stood at 13.2 million (Sullivan, 2017). It is clear that those behind identity theft are revamping their efforts to scam more Americans.
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The increase in the number of victims of identity theft and the huge sums that culprits make away with are not the only evidence that identity theft is on an upward trend. The emergence of new forms of identity theft is yet another indication that this crime is becoming a greater challenge. Criminal identity fraud, benefit fraud and intergenerational identity theft are among the forms of identity theft that have emerged in recent years (OVC, n.d). The emergence of these forms of identity theft suggests that criminals are developing new techniques for robbing victims. If identity theft is to be tackled effectively, law enforcement agencies will need to adopt methods that are more effective.
In conclusion, identity theft remains one of the greatest hurdles that law enforcement agencies grapple with. Millions of Americans have fallen victim to this crime. That there has been an increase in the number of reported cases is further cause for concern. More and more Americans are losing billions of dollars in identity theft scams. All the stakeholders in the security and law enforcement professions must do more to protect Americans from identity thieves.
References
Office for Victims of Crime (OVC). (n.d). Identity Theft and Financial Fraud. Retrieved 11 th
September 2017 from https://www.ovc.gov/pubs/ID_theft/growingtrends.html
Sullivan, B. (2017). Identity Theft Hit an All-Time High in 2016. Retrieved 11 th September 2017
From https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2017/02/06/identity-theft-hit-all-time-high-2016/97398548/
