The Court of Appeal considered sentencing policy for deception offenses involving "identity theft" and check your credit score Reno concluded that a prison sentence was required. said at para 14:"Identity fraud is a particularly pernicious and prevalent form of dishonesty calling for, in our judgment, deterrent sentences." Increasingly, check your credit score Reno organizations, including Government bodies will be forced to take steps to better protect their users' check your credit score Reno data.[26] Stats released by CIFAS - The UK's Fraud Prevention Service show that check your credit score Reno there were 89,000 victims of identity theft in the UK 2010.[27] This compared with 2009 where there were 85,000 victims.check your credit score Reno [28] Men in their 30s and 40s check your credit score Reno are the most common UK victims[29] and identity fraud now accounts for nearly half of all frauds recorded.[30] The increase in crimes of identity theft led to the drafting of the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act.[31] In 1998, The Federal Trade Commission appeared before the United States Senate.[32] The FTC discussed crimes which exploit consumer credit to commit loan fraud, mortgage fraud, lines-of-credit fraud, credit card fraud, commodities and services frauds.
The check your credit score Reno Identity Theft Deterrence Act (2003)[ITADA] amended U.check your credit score Reno S. Code Title 18, § 1028 ("Fraud related to activity in connection with identification documents, check your credit score Reno authentication features, and information"). The statute now makes the possession of any "means of identification" to "knowingly transfer, possess, or use without lawful authority" a federal crime, alongside unlawful possession of identification documents. three free credit report However, for federal jurisdiction to prosecute, the crime must include an "identification document" that either: (a) is purportedly issued by the United States, (b) is used or intended to defraud the United States, (c) is check your credit score Reno sent through the mail, or (d) is check your credit score Reno used in a manner that affects interstate or check your credit score Reno foreign commerce. Punishment can be up to 5, 15, 20, or 30 years in federal prison, plus fines, depending on the underlying crime per 18 U.S.C.§1028(b). In addition, punishments for the unlawful use of check your credit score Reno a "means of identification" were strengthened in check your credit score Reno § 1028A ("Aggravated Identity Theft"), allowing for a consecutive sentence under specific enumerated felony violations as defined in § 1028A(c)(1) through (11).
The Act also provides the Federal Trade Commission with authority to track the number check your credit score Reno of incidents and the dollar value of losses. Their figures relate mainly to consumer financial check your credit score Reno crimes and not the broader range of all identification-based crimes.[33] If charges are brought check your credit score Reno by state or local law enforcement agencies, different penalties apply depending on the state. credit check monitoring Six check your credit score Reno Federal agencies conducted a joint task force to check your credit score Reno increase the ability to detect identity theft. Their joint recommendation on "red flag" guidelines is a set of requirements on financial institutions and check your credit score Reno other entities which furnish credit data to credit reporting services to develop written plans for detecting identity theft. The FTC has determined check your credit score Reno that most medical practices are considered creditors and are subject to requirements to develop a check your credit score Reno plan to prevent and respond to patient identity check your credit score Reno theft.[34] I These plans must be check your credit score Reno adopted by each organization's Board of Directors and monitored by senior executives.[35] Identity theft complaints as a percentage of all fraud complaints decreased from 2004-2006.[36] The Federal Trade Commission reported that fraud complaints in general were growing faster than ID theft complaints.[36] The findings were similar in two other FTC studies done in 2003 and 2005.
In 2003, 4.6 percent of the US population check your credit score Reno said they were a victim of ID theft. In 2005, that number had dropped to check your credit score Reno 3.7 percent of the population.[37][38] The Commission's 2003 estimate was that identity theft accounted for some $52.6 billion of losses in the preceding year alone and affected more than 9.91 million Americans;[39] the figure comprises $47.6 billion lost by businesses and $5 billion lost by consumers. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), check your credit score Reno a report released in 2007 revealed that 8.3 million American adults, or 3.7 percent of all American adults, were victims of check your credit score Reno identity theft in 2005.[40] The latest report from the FTC showed that ID theft check your credit score Reno increased by 21% in 2008. check credit score free
However, credit card fraud, that crime which is most closely associated with the crime of ID theft, has been declining as a percentage of all ID theft. In 2002, 41% of all ID check your credit score Reno theft complaints involved a credit card. That percentage has dropped to 21% in 2008.[41] check your credit score Reno Two states, California[42] and Wisconsin[43] have created an Office of Privacy Protection to assist their check your credit score Reno citizens in avoiding and recovering from identity theft.
