Healthcare provider data breaches - framework for crisis communication and support of patients and healthcare workers in mental healthcare.

Increasing numbers of healthcare data breaches highlight the need for structured organisational responses to protect patients, trainees and psychiatrists against identity theft and blackmail. Evidence-based guidance that is informed by the COVID-19 pandemic response includes: timely and reliable information tailored to users' safety, encouragement to take protective action, and access to practical and psychological support. For healthcare organisations which have suffered a data breach, insurance essentially improves access to funded cyber security responses, risk communication and public relations. Patients, trainees and psychiatrists need specific advice on protective measures. Healthcare data security legislative reform is urgently needed.

Intangible Identity Theft and Intimate Partner Violence.

While tougher domestic violence laws and protective orders are frequently credited with attenuating intimate partner violence (IPV), one unexplored explanation for this observed reduction is that intimate partner abusers are shifting their abusive behavior to intangible identity theft to thwart legal mechanisms traditionally used to deter IPV. Unlike the monetary motive associated with document identity theft, intangible identity theft is committed by someone with a preexisting grievance against the victim because the theft's primary purpose is to tarnish the victim's reputation. Results from a multilevel analysis show that a woman has a lower probability of being a victim of an intimate rather than nonintimate partner crime in cities with a higher intangible identity theft rate. Such a finding suggests that intangible identity theft may be a form of intimate partner abuse with few adverse consequences for offenders because identity thieves are rarely arrested and prosecuted. Nevertheless, the current study is only preliminary. Further research is needed before our findings and conclusions can be universally accepted.

Technology-facilitated abuse among Americans age 50 and older: a latent class analysis.

Technology-facilitated abuse (TFA) is of growing concern and is a form of elder abuse. There is limited TFA research in general population samples in the U.S. among older adults. Researchers conducted a survey of behavior-based forms of TFA experiences in a nationally representative sample of n = 1,011 U.S. adults ages 50 and older. Within this sample, 63.8% of respondents reported some experience of TFA during their lifetime. Latent class analyses were applied to understand the pattern of older adults' exposure to ten different forms of TFA resulting in three classes distinguished by the number of different TFA types experienced: low TFA (55%), low-mid TFA (40%) and high TFA (5%). Socio-economic characteristics associated with these TFA profiles, as well as perpetrator relationship, post-TFA behaviors, and resulting harms associated with the TFA experiences, were examined to inform research, prevention, and intervention activities. Attention across different sectors to TFA among older adults is needed.

Academic Information Security Researchers: Hackers or Specialists?

In this opinion piece, we present a synopsis of our findings from the last 2 years concerning cyber-attacks on web-based academia. We also present some of problems that we have faced and try to resolve any misunderstandings about our work. We are academic information security specialists, not hackers. Finally, we present a brief overview of our methods for detecting cyber fraud in an attempt to present general guidelines for researchers who would like to continue our work. We believe that our work is necessary for protecting the integrity of scholarly publishing against emerging cybercrime.

Identity Theft in the Academic World Leads to Junk Science.

In recent years, identity theft has been growing in the academic world. Cybercriminals create fake profiles for prominent scientists in attempts to manipulate the review and publishing process. Without permission, some fraudulent journals use the names of standout researchers on their editorial boards in the effort to look legitimate. This opinion piece, highlights some of the usual types of identity theft and their role in spreading junk science. Some general guidelines that editors and researchers can use against such attacks are presented.

"Identity theft" in BRCA1/2: impact of positive genetic test results and risk-reducing interventions.

Individuals harboring breast cancer gene 1/2 (BRCA1/2) pathogenic variants are at increased lifetime risk for developing cancer. Learning one's BRCA1/2 carrier status is a watershed moment that can result in psychological distress, anxiety, and depression, as well as feelings of vulnerability and stigma. However, emotional and coping responses to learning one's BRCA1/2 carrier status and after risk-reducing interventions (i.e., preventative bilateral mastectomy) are variable, and existing literature reveals mixed and sometimes contradictory results. Drawing on the concept of narrative identity from the field of psychology, we sought to examine if "identity theft" (the sudden overtaking of one's narrative agency by an external force) may help explain the heterogeneity of emotional and coping responses following the revelation of BRCA carrier status and the subsequent medical intervention one may receive. This Perspective explores BRCA related identity theft using two case studies. Narrative analysis of qualitative interviews uncover the ways that patients experience the disintegration (theft) of their identity as well as their efforts to build and reintegrate a new BRCA carrier identity. This initial qualitative exploration provides preliminary support for the relevance of narrative identity and identity theft to hereditary cancer. We posit that applying the lens of identity theft may hold promise as a unifying concept, integrating across the variable emotional and coping responses among BRCA carriers. Employing a lens of identity theft may help inform the development of tailored narrative interventions as part of precision healthcare to support active coping and psychosocial wellbeing.

Identity Theft, Deep Brain Stimulation, and the Primacy of Post-trial Obligations.

Patient narratives from two investigational deep brain stimulation trials for traumatic brain injury and obsessive-compulsive disorder reveal that injury and illness rob individuals of personal identity and that neuromodulation can restore it. The early success of these interventions makes a compelling case for continued post-trial access to these technologies. Given the centrality of personal identity to respect for persons, a failure to provide continued access can be understood to represent a metaphorical identity theft. Such a loss recapitulates the pain of an individual's initial injury or illness and becomes especially tragic because it could be prevented by robust policy. A failure to fulfill this normative obligation constitutes a breach of disability law, which would view post-trial access as a means to achieve social reintegration through this neurotechnological accommodation.

Consumer Fraud against Older Adults in Digital Society: Examining Victimization and Its Impact.

The European population is aging, which means more people aged sixty-five and over are at risk of financial exploitation. However, there is a lack of consensus regarding whether older persons are at greater risk of fraud than younger counterparts due to physical, economic, and social factors or, rather, whether they are slightly protected from fraud in the digital era due to less frequent online activity. Moreover, little is known about the financial, emotional, psychological, and physical impacts of fraud experiences amongst older generations in digital society. We employ multilevel modelling on a sample of EU citizens (n = 26,735) to analyze these issues. The results show that, holding other factors constant, older adults are more likely to suffer fraud in general, but not fraud via online channels. Identity theft in which the offender attempts to trick the victim by impersonating a reputable organization is found to be particularly relevant for citizens aged sixty-five and above. Older persons are less likely to suffer a financial impact but more likely to experience anger, irritation, embarrassment, and negative impacts on their physical health from fraud in general as well as from online fraud. Many organizations aim to help protect older adults from financial crime and its impacts; thus, the results emphasize the need to understand particular fraud categories suffered by older generations and to design support programs that fully take into account the non-financial impacts of this crime.

Annual Credit Checks for Adolescent Youth in Foster Care: Factors Associated with Identity Fraud Victimization.

Child identity fraud, or the criminal exploitation of a child's personal data, poses serious risks and challenges for youth in foster care. Despite the 10-year history of a federal mandate requiring state child welfare agencies to conduct annual credit checks for adolescent foster youth (42 U.S.C. § 675), identity fraud has received scant attention in child welfare research. Analyzing a state-level administrative dataset with linked child welfare and consumer credit records, we employed hierarchical binary logistic regression modeling to analyze demographic and foster care placement factors associated with identity fraud victimization among a statewide population cohort of 1176 youth (age 14-17) in foster care in a mid-Atlantic state. In the model of best fit, covariates significantly associated with differing odds of identity fraud victimization included African American race (OR = 2.67, p < .001); two or more races (OR = 2.95, p = .003); and older age at credit check (OR = 3.49, p < .001). Youth with history of prior home removals (OR = 1.59, p = .059) were marginally more likely than youth with no prior home removals to experience identity fraud, controlling for all other variables.

The Impact of Financial Coaching on Older Adult Victims of Financial Exploitation: A Quasi-Experimental Research Study.

The financial exploitation (FE) of older adults affects not only victims' finances, but also their health. This preliminary study investigated the impacts of a financial coaching program on the financial, neurocognitive, physical, and emotional health of older adult victims of FE. Twenty older adults residing in a large urban area who had experienced FE were compared at baseline and follow-up with a group of 20 older adult of the same area who were making important financial decisions, but had not experienced FE and did not receive the intervention. At baseline, both groups were similar on demographic variables, but participants who had experienced FE had more health problems, poorer memory and executive functioning, less social support, and greater stress than the comparison group. Six months after financial coaching ended, program participants had significantly less anxiety. Overall, older adult victims of FE showed no significant declines and, in fact, showed some improvement.

Teaching privacy: A flawed strategy for children's online safety.

Teaching young people about "privacy" has serious defects if the goal is to promote children's online safety. This commentary points out some the key problems to programs and educational modules with this privacy orientation. Privacy is an abstract and complicated concept, whose norms are in flux, making it difficult to impart clear, relevant, consensus-based messages. We also know very little about how privacy concepts develop in childhood and at what age and in what sequence, making it hard to know what to teach and when. Privacy skills are not necessarily the most important ones for preventing most online harms, including the most serious ones, casting doubt on whether they should receive priority over other prevention skills. Research has also not clearly established connections between many privacy practices and reductions in harm. Most privacy messaging has not been evaluated for how well it is learned, applied and what forms of safety it enhances. As an alternative, the promotion of online safety is best organized, not around privacy, but around the specific harms that educators and children themselves are trying to prevent. The highest priority of these are sexual exploitation, peer bullying and harassment. Such educational safety programs are best built from the foundation of evidence-based programs related to parallel offline dangers.

Risk and protective factors of identity theft victimization in the United States.

Identity theft victimization is associated with serious physical and mental health morbidities. The problem is expanding as society becomes increasingly reliant on technology to store and transfer personally identifying information. Guided by lifestyle-routine activity theory, this study sought to identify risk and protective factors associated with identity theft victimization and determine whether individual-level behaviors, including frequency of online purchasing and data protection practices, are determinative of victimization. Data from sequential administrations of the U.S. National Crime Victimization Survey-Identity Theft Supplement (ITS) in 2012 and 2014 were combined (N = 128,419). Using multivariable logistic regression, risk and protective factors were examined for three subtypes: 1) unauthorized use of existing credit card/bank accounts, and unauthorized use of personal information to 2) open new accounts, or 3) engage in instrumental activities (e.g., applying for government benefits, receiving medical care, filing false tax returns). Existing credit card/bank accounts and new accounts identity theft victimization were associated with higher levels of online purchasing activity and prior identity theft victimization. All identity theft subtypes were associated with government/corporate data breaches and other crime victimization experiences. Routine individual-level preventive behaviors such as changing online passwords and shredding/destroying documents were protective. Identity theft subtypes showed divergent socio-demographic risk/protective profiles, with those of higher socioeconomic status more likely to be victims of existing credit card/bank account identity theft. Identity theft is a pervasive, growing problem with serious health and psychosocial consequences, yet individuals can engage in specific protective behaviors to mitigate victimization risk.

Antibodies as Currency: COVID-19's Golden Passport.

Due to COVID-19, the fragile economy, travel restrictions, and generalized anxieties, the concept of antibodies as a "declaration of immunity" or "passport" is sweeping the world. Numerous scientific and ethical issues confound the concept of an antibody passport; nonetheless, antibodies can be seen as a potential currency to allow movement of people and resuscitation of global economics. Just as financial currency can be forged, so too is the potential for fraudulent antibody passports. This paper explores matters of science, ethics, and identity theft, as well as the problems of bias and discrimination that could promulgate a world of pandemic "golden passports."

The DNA of a Testing Scam.

Federal agents raided a number of genetic testing laboratories in September 2019, resulting in 35 people being charged with fraudulent genetic testing associated with an estimated $2.1 billion in losses to federal healthcare insurance programs. The scams work in several ways. In some cases, an older adult is contacted by a customer service representative of the testing laboratory and told that Medicare pays for the genetic testing ordered, based on a simple cheek swab sample. This occurs when representatives of the testing laboratory have "arrangements" with providers who order the tests, often without the provider examining the patient. These providers may receive financial payment or other gifts for their efforts.

The Thief With a Thousand Faces and the Victim With None: Identifying Determinants for Online Identity Theft Victimization With Routine Activity Theory.

Available evidence suggests that identity theft is a growing problem that has significant consequences for victims, not the least of which is billions of dollars in financial losses. However, very little is known about the correlates or causes of identity theft victimization. Utilizing a nationally representative sample of individuals from the Canadian General Social Survey, the current study attempts to address this deficiency by examining the link between victims' online routine activities and their online identity theft victimization. It was found that certain routine activities directly influence the likelihood of experiencing identity theft. Potential research and policy implications also are discussed.

Preventing the threat of credit-card fraud: Factors influencing cashiers' identification-checking behavior.

Two studies examined factors influencing cashiers' identification (ID)-checking behavior in order to inform the development of interventions to prevent credit-card fraud. In both studies, research assistants made credit purchases in various stores and noted the cashiers' ID-checking behavior. In the first study, the store type, whether the cashier swiped the credit/debit card, the amount of the purchase, and whether the credit/debit card was signed significantly influenced ID-checking behavior. In the second study, an A-B-A design was used to evaluate the impact of a "Check my ID" prompt placed on the credit/debit card. The prompt increased cashiers' ID-checking behavior from 5.9% at Baseline to 10.3% during the Intervention. When the prompt was removed, the cashiers' ID-checking behavior decreased to 7.2%. Implications for further intervention research to prevent credit-card fraud are discussed.

Exploring medical identity theft.

The crime of medical identity theft is a growing concern in healthcare institutions. A mixed-method study design including a two-stage electronic survey, telephone survey follow-up, and on-site observations was used to evaluate current practices in admitting and registration departments to reduce the occurrence of medical identity theft. Survey participants were chief compliance officers in acute healthcare organizations and members of the Health Care Compliance Association. Study results indicate variance in whether or how patient identity is confirmed in healthcare settings. The findings of this study suggest that information systems need to be designed for more efficient identity management. Admitting and registration staff must be trained, and compliance with medical identity theft policies and procedures must be monitored. Finally, biometric identity management solutions should be considered for stronger patient identification verification.

Identity theft in community mental health patients: two case reports.

Identity theft is a serious problem in the United States, and persons with enduring mental illnesses may be particularly vulnerable to becoming victims of this crime. 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. The two cases from a community mental health center presented in this article demonstrate many of the facets that may be associated with an increased risk for becoming the victim of identity theft. A summary of preventive steps as well as steps involved in resolving the crime once one has become a victim are presented.