Identity Theft No Longer Just a White Collar Crime

When most people think of identity theft, they think of someone tech savvy, like the hackers named in the recent international case who accessed credit card information electronically. Cases like this leave people thinking of identity theft as a white collar crime. Many of my earlier posts have illustrated that that's not necessarily the case since methods such as mail theft and dumpster diving don't require technical know-how at all, and these are highly effective methods of obtaining personal information required to commit identity theft.

However, a recent Los Angeles Times article pointed out that street gangs normally associated with violent crimes are finding identity theft to be quite profitable. After all, technology has made it much easier to obtain credit. Anyone can apply for a credit card online with the proper information without having to provide valid identification.

Anyone who can access and make use of the personal identifying information of others is capable of being an identity thief. This applies to people on all levels, not just the hackers trading credit card information. Perhaps we should reexamine our perception of identity theft as just a white collar crime.