NCJ Number
209159
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 72 Issue: 2 Dated: February 2005 Pages: 17-18,20-23,25,26
Date Published
February 2005
Length
8 pages
Annotation
To aid law enforcement agencies in developing effective prevention and educational programs on identity theft, this article presents local statistical information on identity theft, the type of identity theft committed, and the type of victim and type of offender.
Abstract
Defined as an unconventional crime, identify theft is difficult to prevent with most identity theft occurring electronically, either on the Internet or through credit card transactions. Because it is an unconventional crime, police cannot deploy resources to reduce the incidents of the crime. To reduce the problem of identity theft, unconventional prevention techniques are necessary. However, in order for the prevention campaign to be successful, information on the extent of identity theft in the community must be attained. This article provides an overview on the extent of identity theft which includes: current statistics on specific types of identity theft, age of victims, the time variable between the commission of the crime and its discovery, victim reporting identity theft, and type of identity theft offender. In addition to understanding the extent of identity theft for successful prevention efforts, police officers must be trained and educated on identity theft. By knowing the local statistical information and identifying the type of identity victim and offender, law enforcement agencies can develop preventive and educational programs to help decrease identity theft.