The Urban Layers Project

Identity theft has recently become a widely recognized problem, although it only started being mentioned in literature in the 1990's. It is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world and therefore one which we do all need to be aware of and take precautions against. In this article we will look more specifically at what identity theft is in order to give you more background in order to fight identity theft and credit card identity theft.

Identity theft consists of any crime where a criminal uses a person's personal information such as name, social security number or other personal identification facts in any illegal manner. This may include credit card identity theft where the criminal uses the person's name and details to either open up a new credit card in the other person's name in order not to pay and so works up debt in the other person's name; or taking details of that persons credit card and creating a fake copy which they then use. It may also consist of medical identity theft where a criminal uses someone's personal details and medical information illegally.

Credit card identity theft may occur in a number of different ways. Firstly, someone could scan the information off your credit card while you are not watching and use it to create a duplicate card; they could actually steal your card and use it for their own purposes; or they may open a credit card in your name, using your details but a false address and never pay the bill.

Identity theft occurs when people get hold of your personal details either through credit card skimming, stealing mail out of your mailbox or trash or perhaps breaking into hospital records or other places where your personal details are kept.

In order to best protect yourself against identity theft you should ensure that any paper that you put into the trash is properly shredded beforehand, that you request not to be on any mailing lists for credit offers and opt out of other mailing lists where people send you information in the mail. You should also ensure that your credit card never leaves your sight in stores or restaurants and if you are unsure of the place rather try to pay by cash. Learn as much as you can about identity theft in order to get more information on how to protect yourself.

In this article we have tried to briefly summarize identity theft and credit card identity theft. It is a fast growing crime and one for which we all need to protect ourselves. Personal information may be stolen and used in a number of different ways and you should be aware of these ways and how you can best fight identity theft.

If a piece of work or something someone/some people have created then they should own the rights to it and therefore it belongs to them. There is of course varying degrees in how many rights they reserve and different countries more than likely have their own interpretations, but on the web this becomes a bit more of a grey area, with no-one to stringently enforce the laws, that's not to say that if you do violate them you wont be caught.

I was always told "In order not to plagiarize someones work, you read a book, close it, then write what you have learned from memory and that way you are not plagiarizing". With that in mind it might also be considered a good idea to make reference to the material used; this of course would be with regards to a book or an article belonging to someone else.

From a standpoint of websites and SEO it is always going to be better to not use someone else's published material, whether they give you right to or otherwise. This is because search engines are looking for original content, content that is unique and can only be traced to one source. So, by using someone else's work or writings a search engine is likely to put your site far back or near the end of the search results and class your page as being in one form or another as a copy.

How to avoid breaking Copyright and Plagiarism

1. Do not directly copy or lift sentences/paragraphs of someone's work, that is not to say you cannot use someone else's work in a quote to back up what you are saying so long as you reference the original author properly.

2. If you have found something in someone else's work that you like or need to use in some manor, then you can always paraphrase, by doing so you are rewriting the original document in your own words and way as to make the text clearer. With paraphrasing you are not allowed to use distinct phrases or words that have already been used by the author.

3. Check your Countries Copyright laws as different Countries have different copyright laws or at lease different interpretations of the law. This may also be useful if using someone else's work from a different country.

4. If in doubt about whether you're breaking copyright or any laws, then avoid the questionable act until such time as you can get clarification or find the correct answer. This way you can avoid any legal action by not taking a unnecessary risk.