IDENTITY FRAUD 1. What

A U.S. Department of Justice website expands on this definition, noting the circumstances that make identity fraud relatively simple:

Unlike your fingerprints, which are unique to you and cannot be given to someone else for their use, your personal data, especially your Social Security number, your bank account or credit card number, your telephone calling card number, and other valuable identifying data can be used, if they fall into the wrong hands, to personally profit at your expense (Department of Justice, no date).

Identity fraud may (and often does) involve a third-party victim, typically a business, in addition to the person whose personal identification is stolen and misused. Indeed, the person whose identification is misused may not be a direct victim of the resulting fraud -- though, as we shall see below, he or she usually becomes an indirect victim. If, for example, a person steals your credit card number to make a purchase on your account, you are a direct victim. If, however, a person uses your identif

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fraud category), fraudulent Internet auctions (Federal Trade Commission, "Consumer Sentinel," 2002). Data comparing identity fraud to white collar crimes other than fraud (e.g., embezzlement) are not available. However, the FTC reported that identity theft complaints accounted for 42 percent of all Consumer Sentinel complaints during 2001 (Federal Trade Commission, "Consumer Sentinel," 2002). It is clear that identity fraud is not only the fastest-growing component of white collar crime, but that it now features very prominently in the overall white-collar crime picture, at least with regard to number of victims. 4. Law Enforcement Response to Identity Fraud: Nearly two-thirds (62 percent) of victims who contacted the Federal Trade Commission to report identity frauds said that they had not contacted any police department. Of those who did report the identity fraud to the police, 80 percent said that the police had taken a report; 18 percent said that the police had not (for two percent of cases this information was not available) (Federal Trade Commission, "Identity Theft," 2002). The large proportion of victims who did not file a police report is notable. It is not clear whether victims lacked confidence in the po
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