Cyber Times International Journal of Technology & Management

Identity Theft is the fastest growing crime in India and worldwide. Persons with less awareness are more vulnerable to become victims of this crime. According to study, the fast growing crime in cyber space is the Identity theft /Identity fraud. There are a lot of unreported cases; however an estimated 2 laics of Indians have fallen victims of some kind of identity theft and fraud within the past five years in India. Identity theft is performed by many techniques viz. hacking, phishing, vishing, farming, skimming, forge mails, fake IDs etc. The purpose of this paper is to completely define the threat of identity theft. I will also discuss some of the identity theft legislations that has been enacted or being proposed in our country. Victims of identity theft experience a variety of consequences that include financial loss and serious emotional distress. Little is known about the impact of identity theft on individuals with mental illnesses. A summary of preventive steps as well as steps involved in resolving the crime once one has become a victim are presented.