Title: UNITED STATES

United States

Introduction

The term identity theft and the notion that this crime is one of the fastest growing crimes in recent years, stem from the United States. The intrinsic connection between identity theft and the United States continues to exist, despite the spread of the phenomenon to other regions, predominantly the European Union and Australia. The United States can look back at a decade filled with studies on and countermeasures taken against identity theft. This chapter provides an overview of identity theft in the United States with regard to the concepts used, the focus of the debate, the prevalence of the problem, vulnerabilities present in the infrastructure, and initiated countermeasures.