NCJ Number
233791
Date Published
November 2010
Length
30 pages
Annotation
This report from the Cross-Border Crime Forum contains an assessment of the problem of identity-related crime.
Abstract
This report notes that each year, a significant portion of individuals in Canada and the United States are victims of identity-related crime, and that the continued vulnerability and insecurity of different types of payment mechanisms and identification documents makes it extremely difficult to combat this problem. Identity-related crime, also known as identity theft or identity fraud, affects not only the United States and Canada, but other countries around the world. A Cross-Border Crime Forum between the United States and Canada was established in 2003 to examine the problem of identity-related crime; this report is an updated threat assessment of the problem. The assessment focuses on five aspects of the problem as it affects Canada and the United States: (1) the scope and extent of identity-related crime; (2) the purposes of identity-related crime; (3) the categories of individuals who engage in or are victimized by identity-related crime; (4) the methods and techniques that criminals use to commit identity-related crime; and (5) the responses to the problem. The report identifies and describes the most problematic features of the problem, and the strategies being used by U.S. and Canadian officials to combat it. The final section of the assessment discusses the challenges facing officials in both countries in their efforts to deal with identity-related crime, and presents recommendations for future efforts.