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Identity theft is in the news for all the wrong reasons; it seems like the newspapers, television and other media are all going overboard with reporting fresh instances of identity theft. This is enough to make an ordinary person sit up and wonder when they will become the next victim and if so, what laws against identity theft are out there that will protect them. Identity theft is a crime in which your personal information such as your Social Security Number, bank account number and credit card information is stolen and used by a thief for fraudulent purposes.

This is why the US Congress in the year 1998 enacted a law against identity theft – the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act – that specifically dealt with this growing concern. This is one of the better laws against identity theft. It mandates that identity theft be treated as a federal crime and must be punished according to the guidelines set out in the act.

Besides persecuting the identity thief, this law also provides for compensating the victim and this reimbursement has been established under the auspices of the Federal Trade Commission. Furthermore, forty states throughout the United States have followed the lead provided by the federal government by also passing various state identity theft laws that have ensured that identity theft is treated as a crime.

This is one of those laws against identity theft that also defines identity theft and in this manner removes the ambiguity surrounding what constitutes the crime. Prior to such a law against identity theft the federal laws were only concerned with addressing the creation of fraud and illegal use of a person’s identity document, and it did not really deal with the actual theft or even crimes committed on the basis of the stolen identities.

In 2004 another law 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 Act, 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 along with identity theft. For the charge of aggravated identity theft two years would be added to the sentence.

Identity theft is a growing problem, and many people are worried that they will become victim to this faceless crime, particularly when it comes to internet identity theft. Learn how to protect yourself at Identity Theft Facts.

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