To: R. Jaynes who wrote (6687 ) 2/14/1998 12:19:00 PM From: jean Read Replies (1) | Respond to
Rick - Semantics, maybe. Impersonation for purposes of engaging in criminal activity is a crime, the criminal activity itself (be it theft, fraud or whatever) is a crime, and crossing state lines for those purposes is even uglier. In my limited personal knowledge, the major problem is not with the applicable laws, but with a law enforcement system that isn't especially interested in apprehending/prosecuting those involved. Thus, the burden falls to the individual victim to take whatever steps are necessary to put fraud alerts out to all credit bureaus, notify all institutions with whom business is conducted, etc. To add insult to injury, even when this is done, fraud still occurs because verification/communication in those very places is sloppy. My friends have been told numerous times by the major credit card co.'s that the crime rings involved are known. (The particular ring involved in my friend's identity theft uses a real address for all it transactions.) When asked why there are no arrests/prosecutions, the answer is always a vague non-response. What the heck - they can write it off as loss. Good for the tax liability. When these same friends notified the FBI, they were greeted with benign indifference. Meanwhile, my friends spend hundreds of hours of their lives dealing with all this as does every other person to whom it has happened. Can you imagine what your life is like when your SS# along with every family record (including everything there is to know about your children) is in someone else's criminal hands? This group has obtained birth certificates, Social Security info, and even attempted to access brokerage assets. It could all be prevented by a secure, universal biometric identification system. Absent that and a willing/able law enforcement system that cares about something other than the President's sex life, we're all potential victims. Diatribe ended. Jean
