Identity Thief.

The Identity Thief and your stolen identity.

Why is it that all an identity thief has to do is steal one Social Security number to become public enemy #1?

The reason is, while these crimes are relatively easy to commit, locating and prosecuting the perpetrators is definitely no easy matter. Most id thieves go unpunished, free to commit the crime over and over again, and they do!

The U.S. Department of Justice gives this definition for idtheft:

Identity theft and identity fraud are terms used to refer to all types of crime in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person’s personal data in some way that involves fraud or deception, typically for economic gain.

Clearly, the Justice Department place identity theft and fraud in the same category. We don't have a problem with that, however, one must see the distinction between the two. Not using any grammatical terms, theft is the act of stealing the identity, while fraud is what happens when the stolen identity is used wrongfully, i.e. without your permission.

The definition of the 'identity thief' on the other hand, is quite straight-forward. We are not even going to spell it out, after all, let's face it, a thief is a thief in any language. This holds true whether the item being stolen is tangible or not.

Idteft is simply a fact of modern life that we must take measures to protect ourselves from. Just as you would limit your exposure to The HIV virus to the best of your ability, you should do the same for idtheft. It just makes sense.

“The sooner we stop burying our heads in the sand like an ostrich, pretending as if this will never affect us, the better our chances will be when fighting this devastating social illness.”

What are your chances of being a stolen identity victim?

Let us clear the air first of all. Most people, when surveyed, still believe that idtheft is not going to happen to them. Let's not be naive here. All the statistics from the FTC and the Justice Department say otherwise. Judging from the proliferation and rapid spread of the crime, it's more like "when not if" it happens to you!

The sooner we stop burying our heads in the sand like the proverbial ostrich, the better chance we have of fighting this devastating social epidemic called identity theft.

Here are some 2004 figures from the governmental watchdog agency, the Federal Trade Commission. Mathematicians and other swifties, please note: they did mention in their footnote, the percentages do not add up to 100% because some victims reported more than one kind of identity theft.

• 28% Credit Card Fraud
• 22% Other Identity Theft
• 19% Phone or Utilities Fraud
• 18% Bank Fraud
• 13% Employment-related Fraud
• 8% Govt. documents, benefits fraud
• 6% Attempted idtheft
• 5% Loan Fraud

Here are some more facts to reinforce why you should not scoff and say "it only happens to the other guy".

This time from the latest survey by Deloitte & Touche LLP and Privacy & American Business, a publication of the Center for Social & Legal Research. (June 2005)