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Federal Law on Identity Theft: The Department of Justice's Case against
Identity Theft
Are you aware of the growing problem of identity theft in the United States of America
and Canada? Until recently, no other crime has been carried out with such
maniacal cruelty than identity theft.
It is now the fastest growing crime in North America. In 2002, the Federal Trade
Commission (FTC) reported that 43% of all fraud complaints they received are
actually identity theft. As of 2003, identity theft cases and incidents had
already reached 9.9 million.
In the United States, for every five families, one falls victim to identity thieves.
It is truly difficult to prevent becoming a victim of identity theft.
Even if you take every precaution in the book in order to safeguard your personal
information, identity thieves seem to be one step ahead.
The truth is that you can never be sure if the measures you take to prevent
falling victim to identity theft are effective. There is still prevalent
insecurity every time you use your credit card, write a check, sign up for
magazines, order something over the phone or internet or use your PIN number.
There is always the possibility that the information you are using will find
its way into the hands of identity thieves. Just
being aware of that fact and being cautious about who you give your personal
information to will help you to prevent identity theft.
These crimes are estimated to have taken the average victim $500 and 30 hours
to resolve. Some cases start from simple stolen credit cards to total
identity kidnapping. These ugly and prevalent crimes are hard to prevent.
There is also difficulty in rectifying the damage done by identity thieves.
More often than not, especially with felons who have previous convictions,
there is not much legal recourse for victims of identity theft.
Identity theft is one of the most insidious forms of white-collar crime.
In a traditional fraud scheme, prospective victims are contacted directly
by criminals who use lies and deception to persuade the victims to part with
their money or personal information.
The crime of identity theft does not require direct interaction between the criminal
and the victim. Identity theft is not a crime committed for its own sake. Criminals
engage in identity theft to further and facilitate many other types of criminal
offenses, including fraud.
Recent federal prosecutions show some of the many ways in which people
can commit identity theft crime.
The federal law against identity theft was not passed until 1998 when
exemplary cases of identity theft made it clear that this type of crime
warranted a heavier sentence.
Today there are a number of federal laws applicable to identity theft. Some
of these are used for prosecution of identity theft offenses. Some are there
to assist victims in repairing their credit record and reputation.
The primary identity theft statute was enacted on October 30, 1998.
It became part of the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterence Act
(Identity Theft Act). This was a solid support to strengthen
the criminal offense of identity theft acts since the previous
act addressed only the fraudulent creation, use, or transfer of
identification documents, and not the theft or criminal use of the underlying
personal information.
To criminalize the fraud in connection with the unlawful theft and misuse
of personal identifying information, the Identity Theft Act also added
§1028(a) (7). Now, regardless of whether the information appears or
is used in documents this additional provision states that it is already
unlawful for anyone who consciously transfer or use, without lawful authority
the identification of another person.
The Identity Theft Act also made way for the review and amendment of Sentencing
Guidelines and penalties imposed for each offense under Section 1028 by the
United States Sentencing Commission.
These major steps and many others, by the Federal government demonstrate
that now, the whole US regards identity theft as a serious crime.
Further, it is also an indication that the Federal government, together with
the States is already requiring a comprehensive and coordinated approach
to fighting identity theft.
Since data shows that identity theft does not choose specific victims,
even people who handle their personal data carefully are prone to become
victims, federal prosecutors are now actively doing all means to combat it
effectively. Throughout the country, the federal government assures that
it will be conducting a continuing campaign working closely with the FTC and
other agencies.
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