The Scope and Nature of Identity-Theft Crime

• Author: Daniel A Edelman
• Profession: Lawyer
• Pages: 103-107

103

The Scope and Nature

ofIdentity-Theft Crime

CHAPTER

22

According to statistics compiled by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), identity theft tops the list of

consumer complaints. The FTC received 332,646 reports of identity theft in 2015. This may represent a

fraction of the actual cases. The FTC has estimated that over 27 million Americans have been victimized

by this crime.

The consequences of identity theft for the victim include loss of money taken from bank accounts,

damage to or destruction of credit, difficulty opening bank accounts and maintaining banking relation-

ships, harassment by debt collectors for debts that are not the creditor’s, Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

problems, and attribution to the creditor of criminal offenses that were committed by others.

Who Is the Biggest Threat to Stealing Your Identity?

Various methods are used by thieves to steal your identity, such as the following:

•Dumpster diving (going through your personal and public trash, searching for bills or other

paperwork containing information that can be used to open accounts in your name);

•Stealing mail, including bank and credit card statements, preapproved offers, new checks, and tax

information;

•Skimming (stealing your credit/debit card number, using a special storage device when processing

transactions);

•Phishing (posing as companies or financial institutions by sending e-mails or pop-ups for the sole

purpose of getting you to reveal your personal identification) and pharming (creating websites

similar to those of legitimate businesses, with the same objective);

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