Federal Trade Commission: Your National Resource About ID Theft

Laws

Here's a listing of numerous state and federal laws and agencies dealing with identity theft.

Federal Laws	State Laws
Credit	Credit Information Blocking
Criminal	Criminal
Privacy and Information Security	Fraud Alerts
	Social Security Numbers

Criminal

Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act

In October 1998, Congress passed the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act of 1998 (Identity Theft Act) to address the problem of identity theft. Specifically, the Act amended 18 U.S.C. § 1028 to make it a federal crime when anyone:

knowingly transfers or uses, without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person with the intent to commit, or to aid or abet, any unlawful activity that constitutes a violation of Federal law, or that constitutes a felony under any applicable State or local law.

Violations of the Act are investigated by federal investigative agencies such as the U.S. Secret Service, the FBI, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and prosecuted by the Department of Justice.

Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act (PDF, 48 KB)
This Act establishes penalties for aggravated identity theft.

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