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Identity Theft Crime

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The answer to this is yes, a crime has been committed. Identity theft and identity fraud, although used interchangeably, do have some subtle basic disparities. The differences lie in how the information is used. In identity theft, criminals have illegally obtained personal information such as a social security number, driver’s license number, your name and date of birth that has been stolen, acquired or collected for illegal or unlawful use whether the victim is dead or alive. With this information, a criminal can open accounts or commit crimes that not only affect the victim, who may end up responsible for the crimes. (Experian, 2015). Identity fraud is stealing someone’s personal information and uses it for the purpose to defraud …show more content…

Identity theft over the years has cost citizens and businesses millions of dollars each year just in the United States alone. It has also taken on different forms from true identity theft (false impersonation), to theft for financial gain, and to non-credit forms of identity theft. Identity theft does not necessarily have to cause monetary damage, but what it does do to a victim’s credit, medical history, citizenship, driving records, etc. can do possibly more damage. Furthermore, identity theft threatens our national security, impacts our economy, and can facilitate terrorism and illegal …show more content…

In 1998 the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act was passed by Congress making identity theft a federal crime. It included other statutes such as identification fraud, computer fraud, credit card fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, and financial institution fraud. The Theft Penalty Enhancement Act was passed in 2004, which increased penalties for aggravated identity theft. Later in May 2006, the Presidents Identity Theft Task Force was established and by April 2007 they issued legislative recommendations to close gaps in the federal criminal statutes and also provided recommendations for fighting identity theft. Later in 2007 the FTC, directed by Congress, issued the Identity Theft Red-Flag Rule, requiring businesses and institutions to have written programs on identity theft prevention. Next the Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act of 2008 was passed that authorized restitution to victims for time spent recovering from the harms identity theft, whether intended or actual (Finklea,

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