Fraud
Different forms of fraud have become rampant in recent years, causing a need for sensitization on the ways to protect oneself from them. Fraudulent activities that have been on the rise include identity theft, credit card fraud, and check forgery. The efforts to avoid becoming a victim of such acts of fraud require individual contribution since the acts always occur without warning, and anyone may fall victim. As an individual, general safety methods exist to avoid falling victims of any of the fraudulent actions.
Identity theft occurs when an imposter deliberately uses personally identifiable information belonging to another person to gain financial or other benefits. The process that has to be followed to recover stolen information is tedious and costly. Therefore, the best way to address identity theft is to stay safe through various methods. First, any suspicious activity should be reported to the affected credit institutions before reporting to the police. Reporting to the credit institutions is crucial in ensuring that the severity of damage is controlled (Procaccino & Sanchez, 2016). Next, the police should be notified so that the recovery process is started. A victim of identity theft should act swiftly to change the stolen information immediately after recovery. Also, the fraudulent alert should be notified to the credit report to avoid a negative impact on the credit report, which is sensitive to fraud. Moreover, identity theft may form a path for credit card fraud.
Credit card fraud happens when an individual uses a credit card, or a credit card account belonging to another person in a bid to initiate a purchase or transaction without the owner’s permission. Credit card fraud may happen where an individual loses ill-intended people obtain their card or their information such as account number and PIN (Coggeshall, Shaw, Villagomez & Zhao, 2016). The precautionary measures for avoiding the impacts of credit card fraud are similar to that of identity theft. Generally, a victim should report to the police and should not take the initiative to follow up on the case without the aid of the police. Also, the responsible credit institutions should be notified to act swiftly in a bid to avoid illegal transactions. Additionally, cases of check forgery have become rampant, and victims have to know what to do in case of occurrence.
The case of a forged check happens when the signature used in the transaction does not originate from the account owner. The drawee and the payor bank bear the liability for loses occurring due to forged checks (Coggeshall, Shaw, Villagomez & Zhao, 2016). To avoid the cases of forgery, an individual should keep their checkbooks safe, or use unique signatures that are not easy to forget. Forged check cases are sensitive and have to be addressed within a set time limit. Different states have set time limits within which a victim should file a claim against the bank for processing a forged check.
In sum, fraudulent cases have become rampant, leading to a cause for concern among citizens and security agencies. Fraudulent activities that have been on the rise include identity theft, credit card fraud, and check forgery. Individuals have been sensitized and requested to remain on the look-out because such cases can happen to anyone and at any time. The follow-up for a fraudulent case should involve the police and should be reported within the shortest possible time.
References
Coggeshall, S., Shaw, B., Villagomez, D., & Zhao, W. (2016). U.S. Patent No. 9,280,658. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Procaccino, J. D., & Sanchez, M. H. (2016). A real world case of identity theft. Review of Business & Finance Studies, 7(1), 105-111.