§ 1343), or financial institution fraud (18 U.S.C. Schemes to commit identity theft or fraud may also involve violations of other statutes such as identification fraud (18 U.S.C. This offense, in most circumstances, carries a maximum term of 15 years' imprisonment, a fine, and criminal forfeiture of any personal property used or intended to be used to commit the offense. This legislation created a new offense of identity theft, which prohibits "knowingly transfer or us, without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person with the intent to commit, or to aid or abet, any unlawful activity that constitutes a violation of Federal law, or that constitutes a felony under any applicable State or local law." 18 U.S.C. In the fall of 1998, for example, Congress passed the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act. The Department of Justice prosecutes cases of identity theft and fraud under a variety of federal statutes. What's The Department of Justice Doing About Identity Theft and Fraud?
What Can You Do If You've Become a Victim of Identity Theft? Call the companies where you know the fraud occurred. Obtaining other goods or privileges which the criminal might be denied if he were to use his real name.Fraudulent use of telephone calling cards or online accounts, or.Fraudulent withdrawals from bank accounts,.False applications for loans and credit cards,.With enough identifying information about an individual, a criminal can take over that individual's identity to conduct a wide range of crimes. In some cases, criminals reportedly have used computer technology to steal large amounts of personal data. Many people respond to "spam"– unsolicited E-mail – that promises them some benefit but requests identifying data, without realizing that in many cases, the requester has no intention of keeping his promise.Also, if your mail is delivered to a place where others have ready access to it, criminals may simply intercept and redirect your mail to another location. If you receive applications for "pre-approved" credit cards in the mail, but discard them without tearing up the enclosed materials, criminals may retrieve them and try to activate the cards for their use without your knowledge.In public places, for example, criminals may engage in "shoulder surfing"– watching you from a nearby location as you punch in your telephone calling card number or credit card number – or listen in on your conversation if you give your credit-card number over the telephone.What Are The Most Common Ways That Identity Theft Identity theft and identity fraud are terms used to refer to all types of crime in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person's personal data in some way that involves fraud or deception, typically for economic gain. What Are Identity Theft and Identity Fraud?