Before the introduction of technology, fraud and identity theft was much harder to come by, as everyone’s data wasn’t stored digitally. As such, the offenders were much rarer to come by, or in some spots non-existent. when technology was given to the public, they then had access to the internet, and the web. This new way of life and advantages led to many different crimes becoming popular, such as identity theft and fraud.

Identity theft is quite life-destroying when it comes to the victim. When an offender decides to go after someone, they may take their time going after the victim. Watching in the background, taking notes on the websites they glance at, or places they enjoy visiting. They may slowly gain knowledge of their bank details, PIN numbers to their credit/debit cards, and even go as far and learning their social security number. This all starts to add up, and before long the victim’s social life is now stolen by the offender. The offender now can do what they like, pretending to be the victim. What makes this so terrible is the possibilities the offender can do, such as taking the money from the victims bank account, taking it for themselves. Another issue that arises is the fact that the offender can set up the victim to be a criminal, doing illegal deeds in their name, which will make the victim the prime suspect, sometimes even making them do jail time for something they have not done.

However, with the access to technology, these victims can also take steps to stop this from happening, or escalating if they have noticed the offender starting to take over their life. Bank’s tend to contact users if their bank account has strange or unusual deposits or withdraw. Another step they can take is to be mindful of the websites they visit, or the information they put out online. Taking these necessary and useful steps can easily help a victim not become one in the first place.