http://www.vnunet.com/News/1142517
Identity theft rockets 80 per cent By Robert Jaques [23-07-2003] And the danger isn't only on the internet, warns analyst Identity theft in the US has leapt by 79 per cent over the last year, with only a one in 700 chance of thieves being caught, industry watchers have warned. According to analyst firm Gartner, seven million American adults - 3.4 per cent of all US consumers - were victims of identity theft during the 12 months ending June 2003. .. snip .. "Many banks, credit card issuers, cell phone service providers and other enterprises that extend financial credit to consumers don't recognise most identity theft fraud for what it is," Litan said. "Instead they mistakenly write it off as credit losses, causing a serious disconnect between the magnitude of identity theft that innocent consumers experience and the industry's proper recognition of the crime. "This causes a disincentive to fix the problem with the urgency it requires." .. snip .. -- Internet trivia, 20th anv: http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/rfcietff.htm
