WASHINGTON – President Bush on Thursday signed into law a measure that imposes mandatory prison terms for criminals who use identity theft in committing terrorist acts and other offenses.
A criminal will serve an extra five years in prison for using a false passport in connection with a terrorism-related crime. Two years would be tacked on for ID theft in connection with other types of crimes.
About 10 million Americans were victimized by identity thieves last year at a cost of $50 billion, making it one of the fastest-growing financial crimes, Bush said as he signed the bill at the White House.
“Identity theft undermines the basic trust on which our economy depends,” Bush said. He said identity thieves “can steal a victim’s financial reputation” by running up bills on accounts the victim never knew existed.
The law is meant to take away judges’ ability to give probation, reduced sentences or concurrent sentences for identity theft linked to felony crimes. It was approved with bipartisan support. Lawmakers said prosecutors needed better tools to punish identity theft, especially when it is used to commit terrorist acts.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., says al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations increasingly turn to stolen identities to hide themselves from law enforcement.
The Postal Inspection Service, FBI and Secret Service have cracked down on criminal networks responsible for much identity theft. The Federal Trade Commission trains local law enforcement in detecting identity theft. The FTC set up a data clearing house to keep track of complaints and provide records to prosecutors.
The recently signed Fair and Accurate Transactions Act establishes a national system of fraud detection so victims can alert all three major credit rating agencies with one phone call.
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