WHAT CONSTITUTES IDENTITY THEFT?

• 10 million victims in U.S.

• Victims spend an average of $1,500 and 175 hours to recover

• Total cost - $50 billion

According to the non-profit Identity Theft Resource Center, identity theft is "sub-divided into four categories:

1) Financial Identity Theft - using another's name and SSN to obtain goods and services,

2) Criminal Identity Theft (posing as another when apprehended for a crime)

3) Identity Cloning (using another's information to assume his or her identity in daily life)

4) Business/Commercial Identity Theft (using another's business name to obtain credit)."

The Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act (2003)[ITADA] amended the U.S. Code, s. 1028 - "Fraud related to activity in connection with identification documents, authentication features, and information". The Code now makes possession of any "means of identification" to "knowingly transfer, possess, or use without lawful authority" a federal crime, alongside unlawful possession of identification documents.