Trends in Identity Theft

That’s a bummer headline–that identity theft is so pervasive, there are now trends… But anyway, there are. So…. the Congressional Research Service published Kristin Finklea’s January 16, 2014 CRS report, Identity Theft: Trends and Issues. The summary to the report offers a sobering picture:

In 2012, about 12.6 million Americans were reportedly victims of identity fraud, and the average identity fraud victim incurred a mean of $365 in costs as a result of the fraud. Identity theft is often committed to facilitate other crimes such as credit card fraud, document fraud, or employment fraud, which in turn can affect not only the nation’s economy but its security….[W]hile the number of overall identity theft complaints generally increased between when the FTC began recording identity theft complaints in 2000 and 2008, the number of complaints decreased in both 2009 and 2010 before rising in 2011 and 2012. Identity theft case filings and convictions peaked in 2007 and 2008, and have generally declined since. Aggravated identity theft case filings and convictions, on the other hand, have largely continued to increase since aggravated identity theft was added as a federal offense in 2004.

The report examines the role of Congress in addressing the problem of identity theft. I found the discussion about perpetrators, investigations and prosecutions particularly interesting (pgs. 12-17).  The author suggests several topics for Congressional consideration: decrease reliance on Social Security numbers, beefing up “breach notification requirements”, today’s definitions of identity thefts, as well as offenses to “enhance” the act to aggravated, and deterrence and punishment. (see pgs. 23-27).

Useful information for all of us!