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When Jennifer and her husband, Joe, went to the bank to refinance their home, they expected that everything would go smoothly. Jennifer was a successful accountant with a mid-size firm in downtown Seattle, and Joe ran one of the city’s most profitable insurance companies. The couple, who’d never bounced a check or made a late payment on their mortgage, prided themselves on their stellar credit history. That’s why they were shocked when their bank officer turned their refinancing request down, noting that their credit report showed at least five different accounts in arrears.

It took them quite a while to sort out all the facts, but they finally discovered that a woman had successfully stolen Jennifer’s identity. She’d used Jennifer’s name and social security number to obtain five different credit cards and made purchases totaling over $100,000. She’d also managed to obtain a $20,000 loan for a mobile home, three car loans, a motorcycle and a Rolex watch. And it had all been relatively easy.

After a lengthy investigation, the police determined that this same woman who’d masterminded the theft of Jennifer’s identity had also stolen the identities of twenty other people for a profit of over $2 million. As far as the police could determine, the crook’s methods were simple, but effective. She’d take a job baby-sitting and while the parents were out for the evening, copy their credit card, social security and bank account numbers. The thief explained to the police that because most people usually leave this kind of information lying about in their homes, it was generally quite easy for her to copy the information without arousing suspicion. She’d be long gone before the parents ever figured out that anything of value had been stolen.

Generally, identity fraud is defined by authorities as “stealing” another person’s personal identifying information, such as their Social Security number (SSN), date of birth, and mother’s maiden name. Criminals like Blake use such information to establish credit, run up debt, or to take over existing financial accounts. The scope of identity fraud ranges from the one-time unauthorized use of a credit card to the total takeover of a person’s identity. Because most law enforcement agencies do not track identity fraud cases, it’s difficult to gather statistics regarding the prosecution of these crimes. However, officials at the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General notes that SSN misuse in connection with program fraud increased from 305 in the fiscal year 1996 to 1,153 in 1997.

Arrests involving credit card applications by another Federal law enforcement agency, the Postal Inspection Service, have remained steady during fiscal years 1995 to 1997. Arrests involving change-of-address fraud (which involves the surreptitious diversion of a person’s mail to addresses controlled by the criminals) have more than doubled from 53 in fiscal year 1996 to 115 in fiscal year 1997. Moreover, the Postal Inspection Service investigations show that identity fraud is perpetrated by organized criminal enterprises or groups, and has a nationwide scope.

According to David Medine, Associate Director for Credit Practices, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, the issue of identity theft is really more one of personal privacy than fraud. Because identity theft revolves around someone illegally appropriating another’s name, address, social security number, and their professional licenses in order to commit fraud, it’s a privacy invasion of the most complete and devastating sort. And the worst part about it is how easily it can be accomplished. A person’s entire personal financial profile can be accessed with only the barest of personal facts.