Abstract
With the problem of identity theft presenting a significant challenge to modern law enforcement and considering the impact this crime has had as on individual consumers, as well as on the field of criminal justice in general, it is not surprising that there has been an urgent need to develop an approach that would help solve this problem. A lot of strategies and measures have been developed with the goal to protect consumers and organizations from identity theft and one of these measures is the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act that was enacted in 2003. The main goal of this study is to determine the impact that this very act has had on problem of identity theft. By looking at the total number of identity theft incidents, fraud incidents, as well as bank and credit card fraud incidents, the research will determine the impact the legislation has had on the problem of identity theft and whether or not it is rational to implement similar laws in the future. Sources of Data – The data that will be used for this research will come from an already existing database that was created by the Consumer Sentinel Network and that belongs to the Federal Trade Commission. All the statistics and the reports from which the data will be extracted will come from this database. Conclusions Reached – The main conclusion of this work is that the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 has had a significant impact on the problem of identity theft. The total number of incidents, as well as the total number of fraud complaints, has been steadily going up since the enactment of the law. In the meantime, the number of credit card fraud and bank fraud incidents has been going down. While, more likely than not, there will be amendments to this act, this legislation does appear to be an important tool that the system of criminal justice has at its disposal in its fight against the problem of identity theft.