Identity Theft Many people in the United States and around the world have become the victims of identity theft. This is a crime wherein a person pretends to be someone else by assuming their identity in order to obtain money and other benefits that should belong to the person whose identity they are taking (Michael 2012). Often, the person whose identity is stolen can become financially damaged by the theft, particularly if they are held accountable for the other person's actions. Identity theft is a notoriously difficult crime to prove. Victims frequently do not know they have been targeted until days, weeks, or even months after the crime was committed. Because of this, the date of the crime is hard to determine and the person responsible even more difficult to detect.

According to the article "Men Plead Guilty to Identity Theft Crimes that Included Ventura County Victims," (2013) a large crime ring from California was involved in widespread cases of identity theft and six of the...

This is a common aspect of identity theft. Although some thefts are performed by individuals, syndicates of criminals use technology to steal identities, often through hacking computers and online networks. These criminals were part of a gang who targeted victims all through California, including cases in San Diego and as far north as San Francisco. Crimes occurred in eight different counties between late 2010 up to the middle of 2012. In this particular case, the criminals were able to install cameras in areas which had automatic teller machines (ATMs). This allowed them to see the personal identification numbers (PINs) of the people using the ATMs and to then use those PINs to take the money from the victim's bank accounts. This was done by installing a device called a skimmer which is a machine that reads card information on top of the bank's own card reader.…