What is the punishment for identity theft?

Ten million Americans were victimized by identity theft in 2003. This makes identity theft one of the fastest growing crimes in the past five years. President Bush signed a law, the "Identity Theft Penalty Enhancements Act," on July 15, 2004, requiring tougher sentences for identity theft. The act expands the maximum penalty for the crime from three to five years in prison. It also creates a new criminal offense titled 'aggravated identity theft,' and establishes mandatory penalties for aggravated identity theft. The aggravated identity theft offense is used to commit terrorist acts, mail fraud or steal a visa or passport. The law also addresses the problem of employees working in financial institutions who abuse their power by committing fraud or helping others to commit fraud. "The law directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission, which sets federal sentences, to amend its guidelines to increase punishment for those crimes involving an abuse of position," says Deputy Attorney General James B. Comey at Compliance Headquarters.com. "That is, an insider will pay an additional price for violating his position of trust."

Bush says, "the law sends a clear message that a person who violates another's financial privacy will be punished."
Identity theft is increasing and personal information is more accessible then ever before. The Federal Trade Commission received more consumer complaints in 2003 than any other time.
"About 40 percent of these complaints were about identity theft," says Lori Lamb, a credit correction and education supervisor with Springboard Non-Profit Consumer Credit Management. She has worked in the credit industry for 12 years.

A study conducted by the Identity Resource Center in 2003, stated that a victim does not typically discover their identity has been stolen until one to six months after the incident occurred. The average fraudulent charge per victim is $92,893, which increased from $18,000 in 2002. The reason the act was initiated is because of online commerce growing. More and more people are sharing their information online and making it very easy for thieves to steal information.

"The crime of identity theft undermines the basic trust on which our economy depends," said President Bush. "When a person takes out an insurance policy, or makes an online purchase, or opens a savings account, he or she must have confidence that personal information will be protected and treated with care."

Officials are trying to make the laws tougher, making thieves serve more time, but it is really difficult to catch the individual.

"I remember Governor Schwarzenegger stating that it is really difficult for law enforcements to prosecute or even find these predators," says Lamb. "Just going by signatures alone sometimes is not enough information, and they have to narrow it down to maybe catching them on camera in a store using a credit card."

Identity theft cost consumers and businesses more than $50 billion in fraudulent charges in 2003. Another issue that President Bush has addressed is "phishing," which is when a person uses phony emails and websites to trick consumers into putting personal information on the Internet. If the thief is caught, the phisher will serve two years in jail in addition to the sentence for the original offense of fraud.