Identity theft and financial loss
Don Hummer, Donald J. Rebovich · Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks · 2023
Traditionally, identity theft has been seen as a means for obtaining access to a victim's financial information for monetary gain by a perpetrator. The most frequent targets were banking accounts and credit card information that could then be accessed, used to make purchases, and become the basis for opening new, fraudulent lines of credits. The movement of all or most of our financial information to a digital setting has increased the opportunity for identity theft and the possible losses associated with one's identity being coopted by criminal offenders. This chapter looks at the various methods used by offenders to commit identity fraud, the spectrum of crimes that are subsequently perpetrated once an identity is stolen, and governmental/justice system responses to identity fraud crimes.