Identity Theft Is Usually an Unsophisticated Crime 86
Posted
by
Soulskill
from the skilled-in-refuse-investigation dept.
from the skilled-in-refuse-investigation dept.
apatrick writes "A recent research report by Heith Copes (University of Alabama at Birmingham) and Lynne Vieraitis (University of Texas at Austin) has examined identity thieves and their methods. Copes and Vieraitis searched federal court records in the US for people convicted of identity theft and then tried to find out where they were serving their sentences. They were able to find 297 inmates, from which they sampled 59 inmates in 14 prisons across the country. The convicts agreed to do detailed interviews, in private, to talk about themselves and their crimes, and the results are reported in a recent issue of Criminal Justice Review. According to Copes and Vieraitis, 'it is best categorized as an economic crime committed by a wide range of people from diverse backgrounds through a variety of legitimate (e.g., mortgage broker) and illegitimate (e.g., burglar) occupations.' As to the issue of whether these are white-collar criminals, the authors say: 'Despite public perceptions of identity theft being a high-tech, computer driven crime, it is rather mundane and requires few technical skills. Identity thieves do not need to know how to hack into large, secure databases. They can simply dig through garbage or pay insiders for information. No particular group has a monopoly on the skills needed to be a capable identity thief.'"
people are usually stupid (Score:4, Funny)
news at 11
Re:These are just the ones being caught (Score:5, Funny)
The sophisticated high tech criminals are not in prison. They're on a beach somewhere enjoying your money.
The joke's on them. I've applied for a job at Club Med where I'm going to earn back every cent right out of their clammy hands. And thanks to my prompt and courteous service, they won't suspect a thing until it's too late!
Re:These are just the ones being caught (Score:5, Funny)
Re:These are just the ones being caught (Score:1, Funny)
So all of the thieves they found in prison had been caught. Hmm...