Understanding the Experiences of Familiar Identity Theft Victims When a Parent is the Perpetrator: A Pilot Study

Betz-Hamilton, Axton

doi:10.4148/1944-9771.1237

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Although few prior studies examine the characteristics of child identity crime perpetrators, the available evidence indicates that some child victims experience familiar identity crime (i.e., identity theft and/or fraud perpetrated by a family member or close associate of the victim; Betz-Hamilton, 2020). Nearly three-quarters of the respondents who participated in Javelin's Child Identity Fraud survey indicated that victimized children personally knew their identity crime perpetrator(s) (Kitten et al, 2021).…”

Section: Impact Of Child Victimizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictors of Identity Crime Victimization of Adolescent Youth in Foster Care

Gyourko,

Ridgeway

2024

Victims & Offenders

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Identity crimes pose serious risks and challenges for youth in foster care. As young people move through various out-of-home placements and schools, their personal data are often widely disseminated, difficult to secure, and thus vulnerable to theft and misuse. When they transition from foster care to adulthood, identity crime victims with compromised credit histories may be denied loans, employment, and/or housing during the already-precarious period of emerging adulthood. Even though federal law requires state child welfare agencies to conduct annual credit checks for adolescent youth in foster care, little is known about the factors contributing to risk of identity crime victimization among foster care-involved youth, either before or after their initial entry into care. To address this knowledge gap, we analyze linked child welfare and consumer credit records for a population-based cohort of 4,670 youth (age 14 to 17) in foster care in a southeastern state who received credit checks from November 2015 through December 2021.Using gradient boosted machine learning, we find that prior identity crime victimization before the youth first entered care is the strongest predictor of victimization while in foster care.Implications of these findings for policy and practice are discussed.

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Section: Impact Of Child Victimizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictors of Identity Crime Victimization of Adolescent Youth in Foster Care

Gyourko,

Ridgeway

2024

Victims & Offenders

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“…Golladay (2017) found victims who did not know the offender were 77% less likely to file a report with a law enforcement agency. This suggests familiar identity theft offenders may be more likely to report to a law enforcement agency, but this was not the case in a qualitative study of victims who had their identity stolen by a parent (Betz-Hamilton, 2020b). Other factors found to influence victims’ decision to report to law enforcement were being a minority and experiencing identity theft (Golladay, 2017).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From 2019 to 2020, 47% of US residents experienced financial identity theft, which involved the misuse of existing financial accounts or the fraudulent creation of new accounts (Inscoe, 2021). At least half of victims who had their existing account misused knew the offender, in a phenomenon known as familiar identity theft (Betz-Hamilton, 2020b). Familiar identity theft offenders can be family members of the victim as well as associates such as neighbors, coworkers and school staff.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reporting behaviors of familiar identity theft victims: an empirical test of Black’s theory of law

Betz-Hamilton

2022

JFC

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Purpose Familiar identity theft, which occurs when an individual known to a victim steals his/her identity, is a common problem in the USA. The purpose of this study was to understand familiar identity theft victims’ reporting behaviors using Black's (1976) theory of law as a conceptual framework. Design/methodology/approach Data were obtained from the 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018 administrations of the National Crime Victimization Survey – Identity Theft Supplement. A series of cross-tabulations were conducted to examine the relationship between reporting behaviors and age, minority, gender, income, marital status and education. Fisher’s exact test was used to interpret the findings. Findings Key findings include older familiar identity theft victims who personally lost greater sums of money because of identity theft victimization were more likely to report to law enforcement than younger familiar identity theft victims who personally lost less money. Married familiar identity theft victims were less likely to report to law enforcement than those who were not married. Originality/value This study extends the work of Golladay (2017) to explore the reporting behaviors of a population of identity theft victims that have been largely overlooked in empirical literature.

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Predictors of Identity Crime Victimization of Adolescent Youth in Foster Care

Gyourko,

Ridgeway

2023

Preprint

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Identity crimes pose serious risks and challenges for youth in foster care. As young people move through various out-of-home placements and schools, their personal data are often widely disseminated and difficult to secure. When they transition from foster care to adulthood, identity crime victims with compromised credit histories may be denied loans, employment, and/or housing during the already-precarious period of emerging adulthood. Even though federal law requires state child welfare agencies to conduct annual credit checks for adolescent youth in foster care, little is known about the factors contributing to risk of identity crime victimization among foster care-involved youth, either before or after their initial entry into care. To address this knowledge gap, we analyze linked child welfare and consumer credit records for a population-based cohort of 4,670 youth (age 14 to 17) in foster care in a southeastern state who received credit checks from November 2015 through December 2021. Using gradient boosted machine learning, we find that prior identity crime victimization before the youth first entered care is the strongest predictor of victimization while in foster care. Implications of these findings for policy and practice are discussed.

show abstract

Understanding the Experiences of Familiar Identity Theft Victims When a Parent is the Perpetrator: A Pilot Study

Cited by 3 publications

References 7 publications

Predictors of Identity Crime Victimization of Adolescent Youth in Foster Care

Predictors of Identity Crime Victimization of Adolescent Youth in Foster Care

Reporting behaviors of familiar identity theft victims: an empirical test of Black’s theory of law

Predictors of Identity Crime Victimization of Adolescent Youth in Foster Care

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