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During the 1990s, cases of identity theft increased dramatically. In 1995, identity theft crimes accounted for 93% of arrests made by the U.S. Secret Service's Financial Crimes Division. According to a recent FTC survey, over the past five years more than 27.3 million Americans have been victimized by identity theft. Currently, the FBI has labeled identity theft as the nation's fastest growing crime.
On October 30, 1998, the Federal government enacted The Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act of 1998 as a way to help combat the explosive growth of identity theft cases. This new act makes identity theft a Federal crime punishable by up to 15 years imprisonment and fines of up to $250,000.
Federal Trade Commission. (2006, January.) FTC Consumer Fraud and Identity Theft Complaint Data for January - December 2005. http://www.consumer.gov/sentinel/pubs/Top10Fraud2005.pdf. Identity Theft Resource Center. (2005, September.) Identity Theft: The Aftermath 2004 with comparisons to The Aftermath 2003 Survey. http://www.idtheftcenter.org/aftermath2004.pdf
