What is Identity Crime

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) provide substantial benefits to governments, organizations and individuals through providing low cost, instantaneous, global communication capabilities. However, an unintended consequence of these new technologies is their use for criminal purposes. The technology can be used as the mechanism for organizing and committing criminal activity and as a means of protecting criminals against detection and punishment. Cyber identity theft is an internationally recognized problem resulting from the introduction of new information technologies. This chapter provides an overview of cyber identity theft and related fraud, describing the impact of cyber identity theft on governments, organizations, law enforcement agencies and individuals. Methods currently being used, or proposed, to combat cyber identity fraud are outlined and the potential impact of these examined. The tension between using technological solutions to reduce cyber identity theft and privacy and civil liberties concerns is explored.