What punishment should identity a theft criminal’s face? A good one may be for them to pay all the bills that they have passed over to their victims. There have been calls for the punishment of identity theft offenders to be increased in the country.
Identity thieves now face multiple charges when they are arrested. In addition to stealing personal information, the offenders have a string of charges that may be tied to them. Some of them include email fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, spamming and money laundering.
Prosecutors across the States have also been agitating for an increase in the punishment of identity thieves. For example, in Oklahoma prosecutors have proposed the punishment to be revised to a minimum of 2 years up to a maximum of 10 years. The existing legislation provides for a fine of up to $100,000.
The laws, which were signed in 2004, say that identity theft has been regarded as a serious crime and sentencing guidelines have been adopted to aid the prosecution of offenders. The Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act outlines different prison terms and compulsory penalties for thieves who have been convicted of different crimes, like terrorism and mail fraud.
Some of the increased punishments that the law has brought into place include:
The maximum penalty for identity theft under the Federal law has been increased from 3 to 5 years
Anyone who carries out identity theft with the aim of undertaking terrorism will have his penalties increased by 5 years.
Clarification of the maximum sentence of 25 years for persons who want to aid terrorism applies both to domestic and international terrorism.
A person who has in his possession identity documents with the intention of carrying out criminal activities is also now targeted by this Law.
The Law also directs the Sentencing Commission to overhaul its guidelines in order to be able to punish insider offences which involve “abuse of trust” of the person who has committed the crime.
The department of Justice has also been allocated $2 million every year from 2005 to 2009 to be used in investigating and prosecuting identity theft cases and other related fraud cases.
It is important that consumers know how to protect themselves from falling victim to identity fraud. There are many good resources that are available online with good materials concerning privacy and identity protection. Companies should increase identity theft awareness to their employees in order to protect them and the companies from losses that come about as a result of identity theft.
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