In 1997, the county of Maricopa, Arizona permitted access to public records on the internet. Now roughly ten years later, Arizona is rated the number one state across the USA for Identity theft.

According to the National Conference of State Legislature, the criminal penalty for committing of a felony, is one year imprisonment to death. In Arizona, there are different classes of felonies. They range from a class 4 felony to a class 2 felony. Is the punishment proportionate to the crime? My answer is based on my own personal experience with being a victim of identity theft from spyware that was installed on my computer without me even knowing it. My answer to the question “Is the punishment proportionate to the crime?” would be a resounding no.

Unfortunately I have been a victim of Identity Theft that started in 2006. Nearly 1 1/2 years later, I continue to deal with the negative trials and tribulations that it has caused in my life. Subsequently I found out that it was mostly likely through spyware installed onto my personal computer that the thief or thieves obtained my personal information, and then were able to steal my identity. I used to pay my credit card bills online, perform banking as well as a few other things, and it was probably through some type of key-logging spyware that they were able to retrieve this private information. Unfortunately for me, I was not aware that it was even possible to monitor someone else's computer actions and keystrokes, just by easily installing a little piece of spyware software on my computer, and without me even knowing that they did it. I remember being blown away when I found out about all of this. The thought of someone invading my personal privacy AND stealing from me, made me feel sick & extremely violated! I have always heard about "Peeping-Toms" peering through bedroom windows, but "Peeping-Tom-Computer-Criminals?" Please! Now there is one more thing in the world to worry about. The thought never even entered my mind. I guess I was a little naive, but I don't think many people were aware of this spyware/identity theft problem in 2006 when it happened to me. It just goes to show how smart and determined criminals can be. And I can only imagine how profitable Identity theft can be for them, when it's as easy as spying on you through your computer, from anywhere in the world!

After being violated like this, I decided to look into this growing problem a little bit more thoroughly, and try to fight back by education and prevention. Although at first I was a little bit embarrassed when this happened to me, I wasn't going to let them win again through my silence. I don't know if the criminals that perpetrated these crimes against me were ever caught, but I would like to think so. However, I found out that even if they were caught, their punishment probably did not fit the crime. At least in my opinion. I know what kind of problems this has created in my life, and I would never wish this to happen to anyone else. The criminals should not be allowed to get out of jail in such a short time, just to perpetuate their crimes again, against who knows how many other people?!

According to the Identity Theft Statutes, there are several levels of charges for Identity Theft throughout the United States. Some of these charges are misdemeanors, but most are felonies and each state gives a description of their punishment classifications. For example: In Minnesota the punishment for Identity Theft begins at 90 days of imprisonment, and/or up to a $700 fine, if the victims loss was under $250. If the victims loss exceeds $250 and is still less than $500, the offender may be imprisoned for up to 1 year. The number of victims can also have an impact on the level of punishment. If the offense involves 2 or 3 victims or a direct victim, and the total loss to the victims is greater than $250 but less than $2500, the imprisonment can be up to 5 years and/or a fine of up to $10,000.

According to the state of Minnesota Identity Theft statutes, if the crime involves 4 or more direct or indirect victims, at a combined loss of $2500 or more, the punishment is up to 10 years imprisonment and/or a fine of up to $20,000.
My personal opinion is that the dollar amount of the fraudulent activity should not be a factor when considering the criminality and punishment of the crime. Whether the damage done to the victim was $200 or even $20,000, the victim is still forced to undo vast and severe amounts of damage that has been done to their good name, their credit score, their reputation and their financial well being. It will probably have a negative impact on your credit score, so you will not be able to get qualified for a mortgage or car loan, if you need one. Or any other type of credit for that matter. From my personal experience, I have already spent countless, extremely frustrating hours trying to correct the damage that was done to me. I will also have to spend countless more frustrating hours in the future trying to correct this mess, due to the fact that other problems keep popping up.

Identity Theft statistics say that the USA has the fastest growing crime rate for Identity Theft. The average victim spends approximately 75 hours or more, and hundreds of dollars attempting to repair the damage that was done. The Secret Service in the United States estimated that in 1997, consumers lost more than $745,000,000 due to Identity Theft in The USA. In 2003, it was estimated to have grown to an alarming $47,600,000,000. It is also estimated that every 79 seconds, a thief steals someone’s identity.

The following are some figures and trends from January 1-31, 2005. Arizona ranked the highest for a 2nd year in a row in the USA for Identity Theft. The number of victims was estimated at 9,320 victims per 100,000 population according to the Federal Trade Commission. North Dakota ranked the lowest with just 158 victims per 100,000 population.

Identity Theft ranked by age:
29% of all victims reported were between the ages of 18-29
24% of all victims reported were between the ages of 30-39.
20% of all victims reported were between the ages of 40-49

In the United States there are a number of ways that a person can be a victim of stolen identity. The #1 way to steal a persons identity is to obtain their credit card information.
Considering that these statistics are expected to continue to increase, then why are the punishments not consistent? On May 10th, 2006, our president George W. Bush signed an executive order to increased aggressive law enforcement actions designed to prevent, investigate and prosecute identity theft crimes, and to ensure effective & proportionate punishment on those that perpetrate identity theft crimes. What is taking so long? I believe that if we took the crime of identity theft much more seriously and committed more resources to it, it could be dramatically decreased. However I do assume some responsibility for not installing Spy Blockers software on my computer and performing regular Spyware scans. This may have let me discover the spyware that was installed on my computer and I could have removed the spyware before this happened. Unfortunately I am not an expert, I am just a casual computer user and I was not aware of the spyware threats that face us. I certainly was not aware that a spyware program could easily installed onto my computer without me even knowing it. I DO NOW! I have also learned a lot about Firewall software too. I know that I am not the only person that would be considered a casual computer user and could easily become a victim of computer spyware and the identity theft caused by it. Due to the massive damage that can be done to a person through identity theft and the vast number of people that it has, and will continue to happen to, I believe that the crimes should be straight felonies, and the punishment should be much more severe.

An epidemic of identity theft is sweeping this country and parts of the world, but has not been nearly as bad in Europe. The exception is the United Kingdom where experts estimate 100,000 people have become a victim of “Account Hijacking” a phrase that is common there for identity theft. Again in the USA, 10,000,000 identity theft victims are reported each year. So what are the differences between the USA and Europe? Social Security Numbers are used for retirement, not for an all-purpose identifier. Europeans also have National “Identity Cards.” Credit Bureaus havde unique identifying numbers for citizens in their databases. Therefor it is much more difficult in Europe to steal a persons identity. Because western European countries have laws that keep businesses from sharing or selling private and/or personal information, quite a bit less of their data is “floating around” for a thief to grab and exploit. And in many European countries, groups of banks that share information with each other, maintain credit bureaus. France, Spain and Denmark are only allowed to report negative information about consumers. The Europeans have some helpful hints they would share with the USA. They suggest that we do not use social security cards as a national identifier as well as placing the people in charge of their own data. For Example: Businesses need your permission to share information. This will help eliminate multiple databases which in turn could decrease the chances of identity theft. Another helpful tip would be to add additional layers of scrutiny when a person opens up a new credit line.

According to the New York Times, the increasing use of placing public records on the internet by courts and public agencies has helped identity thieves. When I was investigating this topic, I was surprised at the disparity that existed throughout the world, particularly with the USA and Europe, in identity theft cases and the punishment that is inflicted on a thief.

Modern technology has certainly been a wonderful asset to our lives in many ways, such as the internet itself, helping with medical research, curing diseases, cell phones, personal computers, and the list goes on and on. However modern technology can be easily abused and also used against you in many ways. One could argue that it is because our laws and punishment are not strict enough. We also know that even our own government as been guilty of misusing and/or abusing modern technology.

Unfortunately at the time I write this paper, identity theft is still a major problem in the USA, and it is projected to only get worse. I believe that we could be on the edge of an epidemic, if we are not there already. Identity theft criminals are very smart and determined people that surely will not give up. The issue of identity theft has been studied by many brilliant people in this country, and every on of them has determined that we are in trouble. I believe that there are 2 ways that we can combat this problem.
#1 is to significantly increase the penalties for the identity theft perpetrators.
#2 is to educate people on proper safety and prevention measures.
Simple things like installing a Spyware Blockers program on your computer.
Running regular Spyware sweeps on your computer. And if you find Spyware on your computer using one of these programs, consider using a spyware removal software program to quarantine or remove it all together. Also install a firewall on your computer.