Police are not prepared for rising incidence of Identity Fraud By Chris DeVito

Identity Fraud: The Crime As stated in The Police Chief magazine: Identity Fraud, also known as Identity Theft, is “the wrongful use of another person’s identifying information, such as credit card, social security, and driver’s license numbers, to commit financial or other crimes.”

Identity Fraud: The Numbers As pointed out by Steven M. Martinez, Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI, “ More than 10 million Americans were victimized by Identity Theft in the space of one year, with estimated losses exceeding 50 billion dollars.”

Identity Fraud: How It Starts They steal mail or wallets Trick victims into giving the information over the telephone or by .(phishing) Buy information off the internet Hacking a victims computer that lack adequate protection Dumpster-diving for unshredded papers

Identity Fraud: The Problem As stated by Mari J. Frank, “Since most states do not have identity theft statutes-law enforcement rarely will even take a police report. Identity Fraud victims are told that they are not considered a victim under the law because it is the credit grantor who suffers the monetary loss. The credit grantor rarely prosecutes these cases since they have already lost large sums of money and do not want to waste the time and funds to seek court redress since they know that most impostors are not apprehended.”

The Problem cont. To quote President George W. Bush, “ An identity theft- -thief can steal the victim's financial reputation. Running up bills on credit card accounts that the victim never knew existed, the criminal can quickly damage a person's lifelong efforts to build and maintain a good credit rating. Repairing the damage can take months or years.”

The Problem cont. Also stated by Mari J. Frank, “Even if the perpetrator is caught, violent crime takes precedent and it probably won’t be prosecuted. If there is a conviction, and a short suspended sentence with probation is ordered, the credit grantor knows that any restitution ordered will rarely be paid. For the credit grantor, the bottom line is cost effectiveness. The losses are written off and charged back to consumers in higher interest rates and additional fees.”

Identity Fraud: The Challenge Quoting The Police Chief, “Law officers reported that very few identity theft cases are solved. The reasons give were the anonymity of the crime, the jurisdictional challenges, and the companies’ lax security measures and lack of cooperation with law enforcement.”

Identity Fraud: My Analysis Identity Fraud is a crime that is on the rise. Law enforcement agencies are ill prepared to take on this wave. Talks with a few people involved in law enforcement identified another problem. There is not enough man power or emphasis placed on the severity of this crime. Often times, there is only one or two people assigned to deal with all the computer and identity theft crimes at Local and County Law Enforcement Agencies.

Identity Fraud: The Future In my paper, I hope to go into even more depth on the topics I covered in this presentation, and also give some insight on what is being done, and what else needs to happen, to combat Identity Fraud.

Works Cited Bush, G.W. (2004, July 15). President Bush signs Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act. Executive Office of the President, (n.p.). Retrieved February 3, 2005, from SIRS Government Reporter Dadisho, E. (2005, January). Identity Theft and the Police Response: The Problem. The Police Chief, 72(1), Frank, M.J. (n.d.) Prepared Statement of Mari J. Frank In Support of S 512. Retrieved February 23, 2005, from Martinez S.M. (2004, September 22). Identity Theft and Cyber Crime. Federal Bureau of Investigation, (n.p.). Retrieved February 3, 2005, from SIRS Government Reporter