For over ten yes identity theft has been a serious crime which has affected millions of Americans every year and has prompted the implementation of laws concerning identity theft. Identity theft is the taking of another’s identity usually for financial gain or to use it for other benefits such as getting out of debt or hiding from the law.

Victims of this type of crime often suffer gravely and are often held responsible for the acts committed by the person behind the scam. Laws concerning identity theft have been put into place which makes it a crime to steal another person’s identity for personal gain.

Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act

The United States Congress began taking identity theft seriously in when they passed the one of these laws concerning identity theft in October of 1998 called the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act.

This piece of legislation made it a crime when someone knowingly and willingly uses another person’s identification without their consent for personal gain. Under this Act a person’s name,
birth certificate or Social Security Number is considered a means of identification. As well as credit card numbers, driver’s license, cellular telephone numbers, computers and any other type of information that can be used to identify a person.

People who commit identity theft and who are convicted can face a fine or up to a maximum prison sentence of 15 to 30 years. The law also makes it a crime to aid or abet anyone who has stolen someone’s personal information.

The Identity Theft Penalty Act

In the year 2003 there was a sharp increase in the number of people conducting personal business online such as banking and shopping that it caused a dramatic increase in identity theft crimes which prompted the creation of The Identity Theft Penalty Act.

In 2004 another one of the laws concerning identity theft was signed by President Bush. It was a groundbreaking measure in the prosecution of identity theft because the way these crimes were punished was forever changed. The degree of punishment increased from 3 years to a maximum of 5 years in a federal prison. Plus the level of the crime rose from a misdemeanor to a felony.

There were amendments made to this act which included an additional two years for internet phishing scams and the Aggravated Identity Theft which meant when a person commits a crime using identity theft such as mail fraud or acts of terrorism that they could be charged with Aggravated Identity Theft and with identity theft. For the charge of Aggravated Identity Theft two years would be added to their sentence.

Two Laws Concerning Identity Theft Put into Effect, From The Love Shop

Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States which has prompted federal and state identity theft laws to be put into place. Sadly more than ten million Americans fall victim to identity theft every year.

It is one of most serious crimes in the United States, and it is one of the easiest crimes to commit. Sometimes all it takes is a few minutes to take a person’s money, ruin their reputation and steal their identity.

What is Identity Theft?

Identity theft is the taking of another person’s personal identification information without their permission, consent or authorization. State identity theft laws make it a crime to steal personal information including the following:

• a person’s name

• social security number

• date of birth

• PIN number

• driver’s license number

• checking and savings accounts numbers

• credit or debit card numbers

• automated or electronic signatures

• passwords

Identity Theft Penalty Act and Phishing

In July of 2004 former President George W. Bush signed the landmark Identity Theft Penalty Act into law which allowed for stiffer punishment for those who committed such crimes. The signing of this Act not only increased the punishment but it also changed the crime from being a mere misdemeanor to a federal felony. This law also elevated the maximum punishment from three years to five years.

The Identity Theft Penalty Act also prompted harsher internet identity theft laws. It gave an additional two years time for Phishing which is one of the biggest internet crimes to date. Phishing is the act of sending a fraudulent email to an individual claiming to be from a legitimate business in an attempt to trick the person into sending their personal information such as passwords, credit card numbers, bank account numbers and social security numbers to an illegitimate website for the purpose of stealing their identity.

States with Toughest Laws against Identity Theft

Identity theft is governed on both the federal and state levels. State identity theft laws vary from state to state. Depending on the nature of the crime, punishment can range from a misdemeanor to a federal offense.

State identity theft laws are more severe in the following states: California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Washington and Wisconsin.

Tips for Protecting against Identity theft

Fortunately in most states there are state identity theft laws in affect, but anyone can become a victim of identity theft at anytime. There are certain measures people should take to help protect against identity theft such as:

limit the amount of credit cards used
protect social security number
do not share PIN numbers
shred all documents that display personal identification information
keep receipts so credit card bills can be cross checked against receipts
never reply to or click on links or pop-up messages that ask for financial or personal information when using the computer

An Increase in Identity Theft Prompts State Identity Theft Laws, From The Love Shop

We all know what a menace identity theft is proving to be and this is amply evident when we consider how each year tens and tens of thousands Americans are being victimized by this fastest growing crime in the US. Each day, news headlines scream out at you about this or that person having become the next victim of identity theft and researching the federal identity theft laws also means having to spend a lot of time and effort in order to know how the laws protect you.

Be Well Informed

It is certainly in your best interests to be well informed about current federal identity theft laws and there are in fact quite a wide range of such laws to learn about. In fact, federal identity theft laws can be categorized as laws that specifically relate to identity theft and they can also be laws concerning false identification. In addition, federal identity theft laws can also be those that deal with privacy as well as personal data and then there are laws governing credit.

Federal identity theft laws that deal specifically with identity theft are designed to criminalize cases of identity theft while laws enacted to deal with false identification are concerned with those cases in which fraud has been committed in connection with use of personal identity documents.

The most well known of all federal identity theft laws, the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act of 1998 is actually the first serious attempt by the federal government to control and punish identity theft – directly. This was the first federal identity theft law that considered identity theft to be a federal crime and this of course had the effect of making life for the law enforcement agencies a lot simpler.

Another one of the more useful federal identity theft laws, the Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act that was only passed in the year 2004 dealt with penalties to deal with aggravated instances of identity theft.

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 contains an amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act that deal especially with identity theft and so strengthens the hands of the law enforcement agencies.

Besides federal identity theft laws, there are also many state identity theft laws that are applicable in different states in the US. If you are living in the state of Arizona then it will certainly pay for you to become conversant with the applicable state laws dealing with identity theft because this is the worst state in the entire US in so far as numbers of identity thefts go.

About A Few Of The Best Known Federal Identity Theft Laws, From The Love Shop