Understanding Identity Theft and Crime

Defining Identity Theft and Identity Crime

• Identity theft involves stealing personal data for fraudulent purposes.
• Stolen information includes names and Social Security numbers.
• Perpetrators use this information to open accounts or obtain medical services without permission.
• An identity thief might impersonate someone during an arrest, leading to severe repercussions for the victim and their family.
• Consequences include damaged credit, lawsuits for others' debts, and incorrect medical information.
• Identity crime involves misusing personal or financial identifiers to gain value or enable criminal activities.

Statistical Data on Identity Theft Crimes

• Current statistical data on identity theft can be found at:
  • Insurance Information Institute: Facts + Statistics: Identity theft and cybercrime
  • Federal Trade Commission: Consumer Sentinel Network
• The FTC defines identity theft as the unauthorized use of personal information to open accounts, make purchases, or get a tax refund.
• Common types of identity theft reported in 2019, according to the Insurance Information Institute:
  • Credit card fraud involving new accounts
  • Miscellaneous identity theft includes online shopping, email, social media, medical service, insurance, and securities account fraud.
  • Mobile telephone accounts
  • Business and personal loans
  • Auto loans or leases
• Texas ranked 4th in the U.S. in 2019, with 73,553 identity theft reports according to the FTC.

Types of Crimes Facilitated by Identity Crime

• Identity crime can facilitate other criminal activities by providing financing or anonymity.
• These activities include mail theft, mail fraud, narcotics/drugs, organized crime, financial fraud like money laundering, mortgage fraud, weapons trafficking, homicide, terrorism, wire fraud, computer crime/internet intrusions, robbery, theft, burglary, mail theft, theft of trash (“dumpster diving”), or theft of documents from businesses, medical facilities, or hotels.
• Special forms of identity theft:
  • Tax identity theft
  • Child identity theft
  • Medical identity theft

Identifying Information and Telecommunication Access Device Definitions

• Identifying information is any data that can identify a person alone or with other information.
• This data includes name, date of birth, unique biometric data like fingerprints or retina images, unique electronic identification numbers, addresses, routing codes, or financial institution account numbers, telecommunication identifying information or access devices, Social Security numbers, government-issued identification numbers.
• A telecommunication access device is any card, code, number or tool that allows access to accounts for obtaining money, goods, services, or transferring funds.

Trends Associated with Identity Crimes

• Current trends in identity theft include sophisticated scams using current technologies, requiring consumers and law enforcement to stay informed to counteract new methods effectively
• Recent scams involve stealing information through eavesdropping on cellular conversations, surreptitiously reading emails, hacking, telephone and email scams, and exploiting careless online shopping practices.
• The Identity Theft Resource Center provides information on emerging trends, scams, and alerts.

Common Methods of Identity Crime Perpetration

• Identity crimes are committed through:
  • Stealing wallets, purses, or briefcases containing personal identification.
  • Stealing mail, including bank and credit card statements.
  • Filing a "change of address" to divert mail.
  • Rummaging through trash ("dumpster diving").
  • Fraudulently obtaining credit reports.
  • Finding personal information inside homes.
  • Obtaining personal information shared online.
  • Stealing information from the workplace via “business record theft”.
  • "Shoulder surfing" at ATMs and using hidden cameras to record PINs.
  • Creating fake ("spoofing") emails and websites that mimic legitimate businesses to trick people into entering personal data.

Techniques for Procuring False Identification

• Numerous resources, like bookstores and internet retailers, offer instructions for producing false documents.
• FTC Scam Alerts topic, video and media
• Phishing Scam Game
  • Phishing Scams
  • Spam Scams
• Videos:
  • Hang Up on Phone Fraud (3:08)
  • Online Shopping Tips (3:28)
  • Money Wiring Scams (1:30)

Federal Statutes Dealing with Identity Crimes

• The 1998 Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act
  • This act made it a federal crime to knowingly transfer or use identification of another person unlawfully with the intent to commit or aid unlawful activities.
• The 2004 Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act
  • This act established penalties for aggravated identity theft of two additional years for a general offense and five years for a terrorism offense.
• The 2008 Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act
  • This act allowed federal courts to prosecute when the criminal and the victim live in the same state and restitution orders for identity theft cases may include an amount equal to the value of the victim's time spent remediating the actual or intended harm of the identity theft or aggravated identity theft

Texas Penal Code §32.51: Fraudulent Use or Possession of Identifying Information

• An individual commits an offense by obtaining, possessing, transferring, or using another's identifying information with intent to harm or defraud them, without their effective consent
• This also applies to information concerning deceased individuals and children under 18 years of age.
• A rebuttable legal presumption of intent to harm or defraud exists if the actor possesses the identifying information of three or more people or information concerning three or more deceased persons.
• The presumption does not apply to any commercial entity or government agency that is engaged in a business activity or governmental function that does not violate a penal law of this state
• The severity of the offense varies based on the number of items involved:
  • A state jail felony if the number of items obtained, possessed, transferred, or used is less than five
  • A felony of the third degree if the number of items obtained, possessed, transferred, or used is five or more but less than 10
  • A felony of the second degree if the number of items obtained, possessed, transferred, or used is 10 or more but less than 50
  • A felony of the first degree if the number of items obtained, possessed, transferred, or used is 50 or more.
  • An offense is subject to an elevated penalty if it targets an elderly individual, or actor fraudulently used identifying information with the intent to facilitate an offense under Article 62.102, Code of Criminal Procedure

Texas Penal Code §31.20: Mail Theft (Excerpts)

• Mail theft is defined as intentionally appropriating mail from another's mailbox or premises without consent and with intent to deprive the addressee of the mail.
• "Mail" includes letters, postal cards, packages, bags, or other sealed articles that are delivered by a common carrier or delivery service and not yet received by the addressee, or has been left to be collected for delivery by a common carrier or delivery service
• Penalties depend on the number of addressees and the presence of identifying information for facilitating another offense.
• Offense is increased to the next higher category of offense if the addressee from whom the actor appropriated mail was a disabled individual or an elderly individual.

Texas Penal Code §32.315: Fraudulent Use or Possession of Credit Card or Debit Card Information (Excerpts)

• An offense is committed if a person, with intent to harm or defraud another, obtains, possesses, transfers, or uses:
  • A counterfeit credit card or debit card.
  • The number and expiration date of a credit/debit card without the accountholder's consent.
  • Data stored on the digital imprint of a credit/debit card without the accountholder's consent.
• “Counterfeit credit card or debit card” means a:
  • (A) credit card or debit card that:
    • (i) purports on its face to have been issued by an issuer that did not issue the card;
    • (ii) has been altered to contain a digital imprint other than that which was placed on the card by the issuer;
    • (iii) contains a digital imprint with account information or account holder information differing from that which is printed or embossed on the card; or
    • (iv) has been altered to change the account information or account holder information on the face of the card from that which was printed or embossed on the card by the issuer; or
    • (B) card, other than one issued as a credit card or debit card, that has been altered to contain the digital imprint of a credit card or debit card.

Criminal Procedure and Jurisdiction

• An offense under Section 32.51, Penal Code, may be prosecuted in any county in which the offense was committed or in the county of residence for the person whose identifying information was fraudulently obtained, possessed, transferred, or used
• An offense under Section 32.31, Penal Code, may be prosecuted in any county in which the offense was committed or in the county of residence for any person whose credit card or debit card was unlawfully possessed or used by the defendant.
• Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 55.02 determines eligibility for expunction
• The application must contain personal information of the applicant as well as information regarding the arrest

Security Alerts

• A security alert informs recipients of a consumer report of potential identity misuse.
• Upon receiving a request with proper identification, a consumer reporting agency must place a security alert on the consumer file within 24 hours.
• Security alerts remain in effect for at least 45 days, with no limit to the number of alerts a consumer may request.
• Consumers can include a telephone number for identity verification during transactions.

Security Freeze

• A security freeze prohibits consumer reporting agencies from releasing a consumer report without express authorization.
• Agencies must provide a consumer with a written confirmation of the security freeze.
• Agencies must provide the consumer with a unique personal identification number or password
• According to the FTC, active-duty alerts provide extra credit protection for deployed service members.

Identity Crime Offense Report

• Taking a written report is vital because it block fraudulent information and to begin repairing the victim's credit reports
• The victim should fill out an identity crime report to give the officer detailed information to understand the incident, to organize the investigative case, to determine where evidence might be found, to develop a theory of how the identity theft occurred, and to determine what financial institutions should be contacted during the investigation.
• Ask the victim to begin gathering documentation: Bank and credit card statements, letters from creditors, and merchant account statements, etc., as well as credit reports
• Confirm that the offense is an identity theft (similar to credit card or debit card abuse).
  • existing credit card or debit card being used for purchases, it is not an identity theft, but rather credit card or debit card abuse.

Governmental and Business Entities to Notify in Identity Crimes

• Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI): Notify if an identity crime is used to commit a bank fraud, governmental fraud
• U. S. Secret Service (USSS): Notify if there is any custody arrest associated with identity crime or identity takeover or the seizure of equipment used for such crimes
• U. S. Postal Service (USPS): Notify if an individual is taken into custody for committing a financial crime involving the U.S. mail
• Social Security Administration (SSA): Notify if the misuse of a Social Security number involved Social Security program fraud
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC): Have identity crime victims file a report with the Federal Trade Commission.
• Texas Department of Public Safety (TxDPS) Contact the Texas Department of Public Safety at (512) 424-2000
• Other state and local agencies may provide additional assistance
• Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies: Tell victims to have a “fraud alert" placed on their credit reports These are Experian (1-888-397-3742), Trans Union (1-800-680-7289), and Equifax (1-800-525-6285)
• Financial Institutions: Advise victims to contact their financial institutions to report any suspicions of identity crime.
• Utility Companies*: Victims may want to contact their utility companies to report instances of possible identity crime.

Techniques for Educating Victims and the Public

• Law enforcement agencies should educate the public proactively about identity crime through public service announcements and community policing.
• Encouraging individuals to create an Identity Theft Report
• Sharing free identity theft resources from the FTC

Guidelines for Personal Information Protection Against Identity Crimes

• Do not give out personal information over the phone unless you initiated the contact
• Limit what you carry, take only the identification, credit, and debit cards you need. Leave your Social Security card at home
• Recommended that one does not put their driver's license, identification card, or Social Security number on their checks
• If bills or financial statements are late, contact the sender
• Secure Social Security number, don't carry the card in a wallet and create a personal my Social Security account
• Encrypt data and keep browsers secure
• Use security software
• Do not keep financial information or automatic login features enabled on any devices

Steps to Take if Identity Crime Occurs

Inform the public that they should:

• Notify the police or Sheriff's office:If you believe that your identity has been fraudulently used by another person without your consent
• Contact any driver license office to supply personal documentation for proof of their identity as well as criminal reports, copies of returned checks, or cancellation information on credit card or checks
• In 1999, the Texas Legislature charged Sheriff’s Offices in Texas with the responsibility to establish a unique criminal file referred to as “The Stolen Identity File.”
• Notify creditors and merchants and request replacement cards with new account numbers.
• Notify Your Bank(s): Ask them to flag their account and contact you regarding any unusual activity