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No one is for sure when identity theft had began but identity theft has been around for a long time. In the all reports we reviewed, I believe the longest a person was a victim of identity theft was 20 years. A lot of identity theft began after changes in the U.S. immigration laws in 1986, that required proof of identity and social security cards to be on file with employers. There were a large number of people who helped the illegal immigrants get work by using duplicate copies of social security and identification cards. Often, these immigrants were unaware that there was a real person attached to the information. Many crooks found extra cash by selling these documents to the illegal immigrants. Some individuals information was sold hundreds of times. As time went on some of these immigrants applied for car loans, mortgages and other credit. Because many of these illegal’s paid their bills, to avoid being caught, much of this was undetected. But the thieves knew the credit was granted.
During this same time most credit card companies were sending pre-approved credit offers to almost everyone in the nation, (1.2 billion offers a year). Many consumers threw this information in the trash. Add this to the consumers, business’s, and government offices, who pushed to get information on the internet to have a faster, easier, global economy. Thieves learned that by stealing your wallet, trash, or mail, or tricking you into giving them your information for identity theft. They could apply for credit with your name and information, at a different location, and you would end up paying the bill. When they drained your credit, they could still sell your information to other crooks, and the illegal’s. Some thieves got organized (see report 2 or 29), and began to steal entire databases and laptops with your information. If your name and information is in one of these hacked databases, Identity Theft is like a time bomb on your tracks. By the late 1990’s the U. S. government estimated that identity theft had about 600 thousand victims a year, but were unaware of how bad the problem really was. In the early 2000’s they assigned FTC to inform consumers and get a better count. By 2001 the actual complaints had mounted to about 10 million victims a year. This number has been about the same for the last seven years, and over 100 million data breaches in the last two years alone. As a mater of fact; 7 of the 19 people, (assumed hijackers) that died in the 9/11 attacks, are still alive, as their identities were stolen.
Many criminals also realized that by giving a false name (without id) when arrested, they could get out on bail because you had a clean record. And when you didn’t show up for court, the police came to look for you, while the crook ran free. As of August 2007, it is estimated that 1 in 6 Americans will become victims of identity theft, this year alone. The real question is “How will you be informed when you become a victim?”
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