NCJ Number
199414
Journal
Canadian Police Chief Magazine Dated: Winter 2003 Pages: 14-15
Date Published
January 2003
Length
2 pages
Annotation
This article describes the ways in which the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) is working with other Canadian law enforcement organizations to combat the growing problem of identity (ID) theft.
Abstract
ID theft is the fastest growing type of fraud in Canada; yet there is currently no legislation that specifically outlaws the assumption of a person's identity for the purpose of defrauding them. The CACP and its supportive partners are working together to make ID theft an offense under Canadian law. In 1993 the Ontario Provincial Police and Ontario police forces, in partnership with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, established the Phonebusters National Call Center (PNCC). The PNCC is now a central source location for the collection, analysis, and dissemination of ID theft complaint data. Prior to this, there was no central database or comprehensive approach to ID theft in Canada. On September 10, 2002, the Ontario Working Group on ID Theft became the National Work Group (NWG) on ID theft. This group is a subgroup of the National Mass Marketing Fraud Strategy Group, and it remains a partnership of law enforcement, regulatory agencies at all levels of government, and the private sector. Among the NWG's activities are the prevention and public awareness of ID theft; the development of strategies to help and support the victims of ID theft; input to the legislative process; the collection of information to identify the scope of the problem; and the training and education of law enforcement personnel and prosecutors in the nature of and strategies for countering ID theft. In mid-November 2002, Immigration Minister Denis Coderre presented the idea of a national ID card for Canadian citizens. Stealing the identity of a person or group, often as a means to commit other more serious crimes, even acts of terrorism, is everyone's problem.