| epartment of Justice prosecutes cases of identity | | | | Federal prosecutors work with federal |
| theft and credit fraud under a variety of federal | | | | investigative agencies such as the Federal Bureau |
| statutes. In the fall of 1998, for example, | | | | of Investigation, the United States Secret Service, |
| Congress passed the Identity Theft and | | | | and the United States Postal Inspection Service to |
| Assumption Deterrence Act. | | | | prosecute identity theft and fraud cases. |
| This legislation created a new offense of identity | | | | Examples of the crime include these. A woman |
| theft, which prohibits knowingly transfer[ring] or | | | | pleaded Guilty to Federal Charges of using a |
| us[ing], without lawful authority, a means of | | | | Stolen Social Security number to obtain thousands |
| identification of another person with the intent to | | | | of dollars in credit and then filing for bankruptcy in |
| commit, or To Aid or Abet, any unlawful activity | | | | the name of her victim. |
| that constitutes a violation of Federal law, or that | | | | A man obtained Private Bank Account |
| constitutes a felony under any applicable State or | | | | Information about an insurance company's |
| local law. | | | | policyholders and using that information to deposit |
| This offense, in most circumstances, carries a | | | | $764,000 in counterfeit checks into a bank |
| maximum term of 15 Years Imprisonment, a fine, | | | | account he established. |
| and criminal forfeiture of any personal property | | | | Two of three defendants have pleaded guilty to |
| used or intended to be used to commit the | | | | identity theft, bank fraud, and related charges for |
| offense. | | | | their roles in a scheme to open bank accounts |
| Schemes to Commit Identity Theft or fraud may | | | | with both real and Fake Identification Documents, |
| also involve violations of other statutes such as | | | | deposit U.S. Treasury checks that were stolen |
| identification fraud, credit card fraud, computer | | | | from the mail, and withdraw funds from those |
| fraud mail fraud ,wire fraud or financial institution | | | | accounts. A defendant has been indicted on bank |
| fraud. Each of these federal offenses are felonies | | | | fraud charges for obtaining names, addresses, and |
| that carry substantial penalties & shy; in | | | | Social Security numbers from a Web site and |
| some cases, as high as 30 years' imprisonment, | | | | using those data to apply for a series of car loans |
| fines, and criminal forfeiture. | | | | over the Internet. |