Word Notes 11.3.20
Ep 22 | 11.3.20

identity theft (noun)

Transcript

Rick Howard: The word is: identity theft. In this case, identity is the set of credentials, usually electronic, that vouch for who you are and theft is to steal.

Rick Howard: Definition: the theft of a person's identity for purposes of fraud.

Rick Howard: Example sentence: The sad truth is that many senior citizens are sitting ducks or online fraud and identity theft.

Rick Howard: Context: According to Safe Smart Living, the Federal Trade Commission or the FTC processed roughly 445,000 identity theft reports in 2018, which accounted for 15 percent of all fraud reports that year. The top identity theft type was credit card fraud. It turns out that you are more likely to have your identity stolen than your car taken or home burglarized. And a third of I.D. theft victims spend at least five months dealing with their case and lose an average of ten thousand dollars in wages dealing with their cases.

Rick Howard: Nerd reference: In the hacker movie favorite "The Net" that came out in 1995, Angela Bennett, played by Academy Award winner Sandra Bullock, is an Alfred Hitchcock-esque heroine, the innocent person wrongly accused. The bad guy, Jack Dalven, played by Jeremy Northam, gives her a police record through the manipulation of official government computer files, which results in her losing her apartment. He doesn't just steal her identity, he corrupts it.