Identity Theft Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Identity Theft - Essay Example Criminal identity theft, the most common non-financial type, occurs when someone gives another's personal information to a law enforcement officer when he or she is arrested. In addition to the financial losses resulting from identity theft, the person whose personal information has been used will have an erroneous credit or criminal history that is often expensive and time-consuming to correct. This type of identity fraud involves taking on someone else's identity in order to commit a crime, enter a country, get special permits, hide one's own identity, or commit acts of terrorism. These criminal activities can include Computer and cyber crimes, Organized crime, Drug trafficking, Alien smuggling and money laundering. The incidences of identity theft augmented drastically beginning in the late 1990s due to the computerization of records and the capacity to use someone else’s personal information incognito over the Internet. This scam has amplified in the last few years. According to a September 2003 survey conducted by the Federal Trade Commission, an estimated 10 million people in the United States found out they were victims of identity theft in the previous year, much higher than the 500,000 to 750,000 victims estimated in 2001. Since all victims do not make the reporting of this fraud, these figures do not disclose the real rigorousness of this offense. Identity theft is likely to cause massive harm to people on individual basis as well as the state economy, darkening the consequences of usual crimes. It is very easy for criminals to steal identities. No one is immune from this crime. Los Angeles Police Department sergeant Sunil Dutta says, "Technology has simplified most scams. Anyone with a computer, printer, and scanner can falsify personal checks, credit cards, and various forms of identification. Fake ID templates are available on the Internet. Every day, countless credit card offers are mailed to consumers and credit card purchases are processed. Americans can open accounts, deposit money, and spend funds without speaking to a single person. Data that can be entered into a computer or on a telephone keypad are used to identify most customers."2 (Sunil, 2003) Stealing someone's identity actually requires very little effort. Names and mailing addresses of almost anyone can be found out online by paying a nominal amount. Similarly, for not a very high fee, Social Security numbers and employment information can be purchased on the Internet, all in a matter of a few seconds. The privacy has become endangered primarily due to the prevalence of high-speed computers and decryption software. The first and foremost reason that identity theft has become widespread these days is the ease with which one can find out Social Security numbers. Social Security numbers are used as identification and account numbers by many entities, in fact, some states put Social Security numbers on their drivers' licenses. Insurance companies, universities, utility companies, banks, brokerages, and even department stores often have records of Social Security numbers, resulting in a glut of places where our Social Security numbers are floating around; any thief can fish for them and use them to start new credit card accounts or apply for loans. In worst-case scenarios, someone may commit a crime in someone else's name and have the law enforcement

Anthropology Final Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Anthropology Final - Essay Example It aims at creating a concrete feeling of enjoyment for an audience, most commonly manifested in a physical display consisting of displays of pleasure including smiles and laughter.† 1 Another definition of humour, â€Å"is the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement† 2 Not all people are talented enough to be humorous. Someone needs to be creative and imaginative. In this case, there is what we call â€Å"humour formula† Root components of humour are being reflective of or imitative of reality and surprise/misdirection, contradiction/paradox, ambiguity. Therefore, methods to create humour include hyperbole, metaphor, farce, reframing and timing. 3 Our society has evolved in different angles. We have learned from our parents, siblings and friends knowing which laughable jokes are and which are not. Sometimes when people are stressed from their work, when they laugh at jokes, it gives them a relaxing feeling, releasing stress. It is therefore healthy to laugh at jokes. But that is not the focus of my paper. I just want to make this paper an informative material to others who may be reading this in the future. I laughed and I learned humour. In our subject Anthropology 2040-1, I thought we will just study how to create jokes and learn the tricks of being a stand-up comedian. It was more of a deep understanding about the origins of humour and how Jewish people are important in the anthropological study of humour. But why did our forefathers like Plato, Socrates and others became curious about the elements of Humour. Who doesn’t want to hear jokes? Of course everyone does. But sometimes people became abusive of their sense of humour. Having a sense of humour is a great talent. It means that you can make everyone laugh, and sometimes people make money for this ability. In some television shows, competition is always present. So, instead of naming the person or show, they use jokes against thei r competitors. Especially if one T.V. show claimed they are number 1 in the ratings, others react and use other means to prove to people they are number 1 too. Humour is sometimes used by people who think they are more superior to the others. Like in schools, the usual scenes are some rich kids prank over poor kids, good looking students prank on not so good looking students. But how far is too far when it comes to humour? Honestly, we are influenced by our society when it comes to humour verbals and visuals. We selectively and consciously laugh at areas we found defects or we found out of the ordinary. Anything that is not perfect in our subconscious is not ordinary and therefore we can say, we laugh about it sometimes because it is not how we expect it should appear. According to Ted Cohen, when a joke involves logic running wild, the joke will present an absurdity – an absurdity in itself or an absurd response to a normal overture or a kind of doubling of absurdity. 4 Reli gious humour is by far the most controversial part of our modern society. Most of the readings about this concept points towards Jewish people. But before we go to Jewish people, let’s first understand why religion entails humour by defining religious