How to protect and minimize consumer risk to identity theft
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/13590791111173722 |
| Date | 11 October 2011 |
| Published date | 11 October 2011 |
| Pages | 405-414 |
| Author | Chad Albrecht,Conan Albrecht,Shay Tzafrir |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & finance |
How to protect and minimize
consumer risk to identity theft
Chad Albrecht
Huntsman School of Business, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA
Conan Albrecht
Marriott School of Management, Brigham Young University,
Provo, Utah, USA, and
Shay Tzafrir
University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present and explain the identity theft cycle. The identity
theft cycle explains how a perpetrator goes through various stages of confidence and experimentation
when stealing an individual’s identity.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes a conceptual approach by first describing
identity theft in detail and then discussing the seriousness of identity theft for consumers today.
The paper then presents and explains the identity theft cycle in greater detail including the stages of
discovery, action, and trial.
Findings – The paper provides evidence to suggest that ifidentity theft is detected early, consumers
can protect themselves from the vast and difficult consequences of identity theft.
Originality/value – This paper fulfills an important area of research by providing basic information
about the nature of identity theft. This paper also discusses the various ways that perpetrators steal
consumers’ information, as well as teaches consumers how to proactively protect themselves from
identity theft.
Keywords Fraud, Theft, Consumerfraud, Identity theft, The identitytheft cycle
Paper type Conceptual paper
Introduction
Research has suggested that victims of identity theft spend an average of $1,500 in
out-of-pocket expenses and an average of 175 hours per incident of identity theft in order
to resolve the many problems caused by identity thieves (Smith, 2005). The United
States Federal Trade Commission has labeled identity theft as the most common type of
consumer fraud, affecting thousands of people everyday. In fact, approximately
40 percent of the frauds reported to the United States Federal Trade Commission (2007)
over the last few years has involved some type of identity theft. Furthermore, research
has suggested that victims of identity theft suffer both psychological and physical
distresses (Sharpe et al., 2004). Identity theft is used to describe those circumstances
when someone uses another person’s name, ad dress, Social Security number,
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1359-0790.htm
The material discussed and presented in this article were made in connection with Fraud
Examination, 4th edition, authored by Albrecht, Albrecht, Albrecht, and Zimbelman and
published by South-Western Cengage Learning. Fraud Examination is the first textbook on
fraud specifically designed for business schools and is used in over 100 business schools
throughout the world today.
Identity theft
405
Journal of Financial Crime
Vol. 18 No. 4, 2011
pp. 405-414
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1359-0790
DOI 10.1108/13590791111173722
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