Team Project on Identity Theft

I chose the topic of identity theft and how it affects the companies who issue individuals credit. With this becoming an increasing problem companies will be forced to put new strategies in place to protect its clients and to convince them that they are a safe company that will not be affected by identity theft. This is associated with the class because it affects how companies will have to strategically plan to bring in new clients we are afraid this theft will happen to them. Companies will also need to initiate new strategies to keep up with the changing technology.

Sources

Regnier, Pat. The ID Theft Protection Racket. Money. New York: Sep 2005. pg. 112, 4 pgs.

Sivy, Michael. Toddler Fraud. Money. New York: Dec 2005. pg. 32, 1 pg.

Wood, Peter. Identity Theft in the Corporate Network. Credit Control. Hutton: 2005. pg. 28, 2 pgs.

Questions For Discussion

1. Should individuals be held liable if their identity is stolen? To what extent? What if individuals are children?

2. What, if anything, should companies be responsible for if they issue credit to the wrong identity?

3. How should credit scoring be affected by identity theft?

4. Should there be a limit on how often you can claim your identity has been stolen?

Meeting Minutes

Meeting took place on 11/28/05 at 4:00 p.m. in the Pioneer Student Center.

Team Members Present and Their Roles:

Jennifer Klein Facilitator

Mike Nevers Team Leader

Meghan Borleske Team Recorder

Jodi Nevers Team Member

All members have read the current articles for reading which included:

The ID Theft Protection Racket by Pat Regnier

Identity Theft in the Corporate Network by Peter Wood

Toddler Fraud by Michael Sivy

First Topic of Discussion:

Should individuals be held liable if their identity is stolen? To what extent? What if individuals are kids?

The immediate reaction was that no one should be held liable if his or her identity is stolen. However, a point was brought up that sometime there has to be a punishment for not tracking your expenditures or looking at credit card statements. Another significant point was the question of what punishment should be for people assisting others in taking their identity. For example what if you need more money so you help someone steal your identity to get cash advances on credit cards, than report it claiming you didn’t know who took your identity. Currently, most people pay $50 when their identity if taken, few pay more than $500. A consensus was reached that this seamed to be a fair amount, however in a perfect world no one would be liable for charges they did not know about.

Children should not be held liable for anything. Parents are the ones who currently hold their social security number; therefore it is their responsibility to look out of it. Maybe the IRS could find another way to claim dependents on taxes, that way children would not need a social security number until they start holding a job.

Second Topic of Discussion:

What, if anything, should companies be responsible for if they issue credit to the wrong identity?

Companies should be held liable for all of it. Maybe companies could call individuals who request credit to verify that they have done so and that the shipping information is correct. Companies need to find more ways to check that they are issuing credit to the true credit holder because it gives them a bad image if they don’t. Customers won’t want to hold credit with them