Identity Theft Literature Review

The author(s) shown below used Federal funds provided by the U.S. Department of Justice and prepared the following final report:
Document Title: Author(s): Document No.: Date Received: Award Number:
Identity Theft Literature Review Graeme R. Newman, Megan M. McNally 210459
July 2005
2005-TO-008
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This statute defined identity theft very broadly and made it much easier for prosecutors to conduct their cases. However, it was of little help to researchers, because a closer examination of the problem revealed that identity theft was composed of a number of disparate kinds of crimes committed in widely varying venues and circumstances.
The majority of States have now passed identity theft legislation, and the generic crime of identity theft has become a major issue of concern. The publicity of many severe cases in the print and electronic media and the portrayal of the risk of identity theft in a number of effective television commercials have made identity theft a crime that is now widely recognized by the American public.
The Internet has played a major role in disseminating information about identity theft, both in terms of risks and information on how individuals may avoid victimization. It has also been identified as a major contributor to identity theft because of the environment of anonymity and the opportunities it provides offenders or would-be offenders to obtain basic components of other persons’

However, some prefer not to include credit card fraud as “true” identity theft, since it may occur only once, and be discovered quickly by the credit card issuing company, often before even the individual card holder knows it. Other types of identity theft such as account takeover are more involved and take a longer time to