Identity Crimes and Law Enforcement: Profiling the Crimes and Assisting the Victims

According to an identity theft report prepared for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), an estimated 8.3 million Americans or 3.7% of the U.S. population became a victim of an identity crime in 2005 (Synovate 2007, p. 11). When identity crimes occur, law enforcement is often the initial point of contact for a victim to report the crime. Therefore, law enforcement personnel are in a position to provide assistance to an identity crime victim. The purpose of this article is to provide law enforcement personnel with information regarding identity crimes that will help them when investigating the crime and assisting the victims. This introductory section provides some background information regarding identity crimes. Then, some common methods thieves use to obtain personal identifying information will be described, and how and when victims discover that their identity has been compromised will be discussed. The losses attributable to identity crimes and a profile of identity crime perpetrators based on an examination of cases investigated by the U.S. Secret Service will be offered followed by an explanation of the rights and responsibilities of identity crime victims. Finally, we suggest a six-step program designed to mitigate and remedy the impact of an identity crime that law enforcement can share with victims of this insidious crime.