ITAC Blog » Department of Justice

ITAC Urges Justice Department to Implement Inspector General Recommendations Regarding Identity Theft

ITACadmin — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:29:42 +0000

According to a report issued by the agency’s Inspector General yesterday, identity theft has faded as a priority at the Justice Department despite the fact that the Department’s own Criminal Division has testified that identity theft is one of the nation’s fastest growing crime.

Identity crime victims want and deserve justice. As the national advocate for identity theft victims and a leading voice on identity policy, ITAC, Identity Theft Assistance Center urges the Justice Department to implement the inspector general’s recommendations quickly.

We urge the Department of Justice to develop a comprehensive strategy to combat identity theft, collect better statistics on victims and perpetrators and publish those numbers faster, and appoint an individual to coordinate DOJ’s strategy.

The financial services industry is eager to work with the Department on fighting identity theft, a crime that has two victims, the consumer and the company that’s defrauded. With an estimated 10 million Americans becoming victims of identity theft on an annual basis, it is critical for the Department of Justice to enhance its efforts and do a better job of helping ensure identity crime victims receive the justice they deserve.

- Anne Wallace, President of ITAC, the Identity Theft Assistance Center

Identity Theft: What Law Enforcement is Doing

ITACadmin — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:22:47 +0000

While this video is a couple of years old, it reinforces the importance and value that law enforcement provides when it comes to fighting identity theft. In the coming weeks, we will be featuring stories and expert podcast interviews with law enforcement, and we want to remind our readers that they are the front-line in protecting us. Check out this video that features an update from Laura Parsky, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice.

Why Is There No Clearinghouse for Tracking Identity Theft Prosecutions?

ITACadmin — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:43:38 +0000

Cybersecurity is all over the news lately. From our recent call for the U.S. government to take a more offensive approach in stopping cybercrimes to hackers compromising the U.S. electrical grid, the news is everywhere – further underscoring the seriousness of this topic.

One area that has not received much coverage is the prosecution of identity theft crimes. Last week, Rita M. Glavin, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, Department of Justice, testified at House Homeland Security Committee hearing on PCI standards. Assistant Attorney General Glavin cited some very sobering statistics: there are more than 2,000 active cases related to identity theft pending in the U.S. Attorney’s Offices. She said there has been a 138.2 percent increase in identity theft convictions between 2004 and 2008.

The federal stats made me wonder about the number of state and local prosecutions. Conventional wisdom is that the federal prosecutions are the just the tip of the iceberg. U. S. Attorneys all over the country apply standards including big dollar losses, lots of victims, and “winability” to filter out any where from 50 percent to 90 percent of the cases in order to make the most of their limited resources.

So, how many state prosecutions for identity theft are there? Individual states publish data but I couldn’t find a compilation of state prosecutions. Is there one out there?

Does it matter? Well, there’s a sense that identity theft is a crime that isn’t punished. Maybe that’s why only about one-third of identity theft victims file a police report according to a recent report by Javelin Strategy & Research. Would more consumers file a police report if they thought the crook was likely to be prosecuted? Hard to know but I bet they would.

So, the question is…where is the data about state prosecutions? If you can point us to other resources, we would greatly appreciate it.