Identity Theft

Identity theft is a growing national epidemic. The Federal Trade Commission’s report on identity theft called Identity Theft the fastest-growing crime in the nation, with nearly 10 million victims per year, with costs to businesses of $48 billion and costs to consumers of nearly $5 billion.

The internet and identity theft

While the internet makes people's lives easier, the Internet and its vast collections of easily accessible personal data make identity theft simpler for criminally minded people. Businesses' lack stringent privacy policies and corporate mistakes in handling sensitive customer information also contribute to the problem of identity theft. 

Information leak

Incidents of information-rich files being left unsecured in garbage bins and credit slips left unshredded are common. Unfortunately, local police agencies are ill equipped to handle these sophisticated crimes, which often cross state borders.

From a police perspective, identity theft is a silent crime. It just doesn’t merit the priority of crimes like murder, robbery, and other violent crimes more easily reported and televised.

District attorneys are in a similar bind. Reelection is secured by winning big verdicts in publicity- generating cases.

Federal and state law taking identity theft more seriously

Federal and state law enforcement agencies are beginning to take the problem of identity theft more seriously, especially now that the FBI has declared identity theft as the fastest-growing white collar crime in the country.