An explanation of identity theft along with an analysis of its appearance and preventive measures employed in the local scenario

Abstract

This dissertation is titled 'An explanation of Identity Theft along with an analysis of its appearance and preventive measures employed in the local scenario.' The main notion of this study is to explore the prevalence of identity theft in Malta and the measures employed by individuals, government and private institutions to detect and prevent this crime. In order to carry out better this research a hypothesis is formulated based on the perception that identity theft is not popular in Malta and individuals, government and private institutions lack the necessary safeguards that protect identity. Together with this, a correlation analysis is carried out between the prevalence of identity theft in Malta and the controls employed by the participants to combat this crime in order to try to divulge any relationships between them. To complete this study both qualitative and a quantitative research methods were used whereby while in the former interviews with the police, Identity Cards Office and financial institutions (banks) were carried out, in the latter government statistics were gathered from the police.