The identity theft laws that are currently in force in the US are there to protect victims of identity theft. The fact of the matter is that identity theft is rampant, not only in the US but in the rest of the world as well and so it is necessary that governments enact stringent identity theft laws to protect their citizens. Even ordinary consumers are becoming more aware of the threat of identity theft which has peaked in the last decade or so. The media too has played no mean role in ensuring better awareness about the threat from identity theft and this in turn has certainly helped many people learn to not give out their personal information unless they are absolutely sure of who is receiving the information.
The public outcry against identity theft has led to the federal and also state governments rushing to enact strict identity theft laws. For example, there is the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act that is a federal identity theft law that only came into effect in the year 1998 and which has ensured that identity theft be considered a felony.
Besides persecuting the identity theft this identity theft law also provides for compensating the victim and this reimbursement has been established under the auspices of the Federal Trade Commission. Furthermore, forty states throughout the United States have taken the lead given by the federal government by also passing various state identity theft laws that too have ensured that identity theft be treated as a crime.
Another useful identity theft law, the Identity Theft Prevention Act of 2000 was signed by Senators Kyl, Feinstein and Grassley each of whom wanted identity theft to be given more attention than it currently gets and these senators were also interested in finding out when to prevent identity theft and in what part of the identity theft law should these preventions belong.
Former President George W. Bush also lent his signature to the Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act (ITPEA) which is one more identity theft law that helps protect the ordinary citizen and which punishes the identity thief. These identity theft laws treat identity thefts as felonies which carry a mandatory sentence of two years in jail and if the identity theft also can be linked to terrorist activity then the penalty would be a five year jail term.
It pays to make an effort to learn about various laws against identity theft because it would mean that you have taken an important step in fighting the fastest growing crime in the US – identity theft. In fact, the Federal Trade Commission states that as many as forty-three percent of all frauds reported to them were cases of identity theft. In the year 2003, there were as many as ten million instances which are why the right laws will protect you from major financial problems that are all related to identity theft.
