Identity Theft & Cyber Defamation

Stealing someone’s credit card information to reconstruct a new identity is called identity theft, where criminals conduct different cybercrimes with others’ digital information.

For example, credit card information can pile up enormous bills, which leads the individual to suffer a massive loss. Second, they might use individual credit card data to create new identities for other cybercriminals. For instance, the issuing bank of a stolen credit card might be contacted to change the mailing address on the account. Then, the attacker may get a passport or driver’s license with his photo under the victim’s name. With a driver’s license, he can easily avail a new Social Security card, open a new bank account, and receive the loans possible. When the debt gets too large, the victim is called upon by the bank, and only then does the identity theft be detected.

Cyber defamation is something more, and more people are experiencing nowadays. Intentionally insulting or offending an individual online ends up costing a life. Take the Gurugram suicide case in India, where a 12th standard took his own life out of shame and social humiliation. In her Instagram story, a girl stated she was raped two years ago by a boy. However, she had no proof to back it up. Even then, it got so viral that people showed their support towards the girl, and they did the opposite with the boy. The act of sharing and retweeting is so simple that most of us give little thought to its serious consequences.