In many countries, financial crime involving identity theft is increasing. What are the causes of this trend, and what effects does it identify theft have on the victims involved?

Identity fraud is a great concern especially in western countries where people are at most risk. It has a number of causes and damaging effects. The primary cause of the rising amount of cyber crimes is the usage of digital technology to store financial data and transactions. It is surprisingly easy for criminals to obtain

such

stored information about an individual and

then

to use it to impersonate the target. Since, large amount orders can be operated digitally without the need of face to face contact, they are able to apply for financial products remotely, before the victim is even aware of the attack.

For instance

, a criminal can easily access the e-wallet information and operate it to make purchases on the internet as most of the online websites accept payment from e-wallets.

Moreover

, with the increasing chances of being caught in traditional crimes

such

as mugging and burglary due to the widespread application of CCTV, DNA profiling and fingerprints scanning they are less inclined in these types of crimes.

As a result

, they prefer low profile, more profitable and data based crimes. The effects of a cybercrime go beyond the limits of the present day life of the victims and its effects are felt even after several years.

This

can be more devastating because the loss of the money from their bank account not only puts them in a financial crisis, but, it may take them several years to recover from

such

a loss.

Furthermore

, there is damage to their credit rating as well, which means they will find it difficult to apply for a legitimate credit in future. To conclude, the presence of online crimes along with the decline of traditional crimes is the key effect of these crimes which have a long term effect on a victim’s life.