Most of the time, intellectual property theft involves stealing copyrighted material in the form of a book, a magazine or journal article or material on the Internet and claiming that the material is one's own property, also known as plagiarism. This type of high-tech crime is very widespread in today's America and often shows up as major news stories in the media, especially when the copyrighted material belongs to a high-profile author. Another high-tech crime which is closely linked to identity theft is credit card fraud which occurs when "purchases are made using another individual's credit card or credit card number with the intent to defraud" ("Credit Card Fraud," Internet). These purchases might include buying products and goods at a well-known business establishment or purchasing products from Internet sites. Some of the more common forms of credit card fraud found in the U.S. include counterfeiting or creating fraudulent credit cards, using another person's credit card without permission or by stealing it or fraudulently acquiring credit cards through the mail by using a fake name or alias, a fake address and a fake Social Security number. Also, a more subtle but just as damaging unauthorized use of a credit card number known as misappropriation continues to grow in the U.S. And usually takes place on the Internet ("Credit Card Fraud," Internet).

As pointed out by the Federal Trade Commission, almost all credit card number misappropriation occurs when an individual uses electronic access devices which provide to the criminal access to a person's private bank or Internet account as well as PIN numbers which allow the user to access an account after providing an email address or some type of alpha/numerical password. Overall, all three of these examples of high-tech crime hold the potential to ruin not only an individual's life but also the financial stability and dependability of the American capitalist system.
References

About Identity Theft." (2008). FTC. Internet. Retrieved January 8, 2009 at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/consumers/about-identity-theft.html.

Credit Card Fraud." (2009). Criminal Law. Internet. Accessed January 7, 2009 at http://criminal-law.freeadvice.com/criminal-law/credit-card-fraud.htm.

Financial and High-Tech Crimes." January 7, 2009. Interpol. Internet. Accessed January 7, 2009 at http://www.interpol.int/Public/FinancialCrime/Default.asp.

Thompson, William T. (2004). High-tech crime in the United States. Boston: G.K. Hall.