15.1: INTRODUCTION

Identity Theft is the attainment of a person's private identifying information, and is often used for personal gain through identity fraud. Identity theft has become a serious problem in recent years in the U.S. and other countries. According to a study done by Javelin Strategy & Research (2013), on average, there was a new identity theft victim every two seconds. In addition, it is estimated that nearly two out of three ID theft victims never discover the source of the crime (ITAC, 2012). It is unknown where ID theft originated because, in its simplest form, it is only defined as impersonating someone else, with no mention of intent. Jacob's story, in chapter 25 of the Book of Genesis, highlights one of the earliest known versions of identity theft (Holy Bible).

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