Federal Task Force report: ID theft convictions up, still very low
The good news: identity theft convictions in 2007 increased by 26% over the 2006 total convictions. The bad news: that’s only 1,943 convictions out of the 1.6 million identity theft complaints in the Federal Trade Commission’s files. There were 1,534 convictions in 2006.
The numbers come from a 70-page report released by the Identity Theft Task Force established in May 2006 by President Bush. It is chaired by the US Attorney General and the FTC Chair.
In the report, the task force explained the challenges of arresting and convicting identity thieves.
“The profiles, purposes and methods of the perpetrators are continually changing. Identity theft today can be the product of organized crime rings here and abroad using increasingly sophisticated technologies, such as installing malicious software, phishing, spoofing, and database hacking to rap into repositories of consumer data,” explained the task force report’s authors.The report also included 31 recommendations to help reduce the number of identity thefts committed, and increase the number of identity theft convictions. They suggest reducing the use of Social Security numbers, better law enforcement training and improving cooperation among the states and between the US and other nations.
The task force also supports issuing identity “passports” for identity theft victims. “Such documentation is particularly important where a suspect ahs used the victim’s name in the commission of a crime,” the report said.
Tags: ID theft, identity theft protection, Life Lock, LifeLock, lifelock.com