• Identity Crime: An Overview
  • Federal Agencies with a Role in Responding to Identity Crime
  • Profile of Identity Crime
  • Victim Reported Identity Crime
  • Downloadable Resources
• Prevention
• Victim Assistance
• Investigation
• Resource Sharing

Identity Crime: An Overview

• Identity crime results from crimes committed utilizing personal identifiers that have been stolen, compromised, altered, or synthetic (not based on an actual person’s identity) and are not related to the initial theft of an identity.
• The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) estimated that in 2005, 8.3 million American adults were victims of identity theft (Federal Trade Commission, 2007).
• Compounding this already complex issue, barely one-third of identity crime victims contacted police.
• Identity crime can facilitate larger criminal enterprises -- including terrorist, drug, and gang activities (Federal Trade Commission, 2006) – and other criminal activity.
• Identity crime is a complicated issue often involving differing legal jurisdictions. For a compendium of state identity theft statutes, please visit the National Conference of State Legislatures. Further, several federal agencies maintain investigative responsibilities.
• Identity crime has far reaching consequences for its victims. To see how identity crime impacts your state, click here.
• Learn more with our “Identity Crime Toolkit for Police Executives (16.2 MB)”