NCJ Number
210521
Date Published
March 2005
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This background paper for a workshop at the 11th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (held April 18-25, 2005, in Bangkok) focuses on measures to combat identity theft and money laundering.
Abstract
Identity theft involves accessing personal information on another individual and then using that information to assume the person's identity when committing a crime. There is increasing evidence that identity theft facilitates the commission of economic crime, both nationally and internationally. The free flow of information over the Internet, particularly in the course of economic transactions, and the storing of personal information accessible through the Internet offers innumerable opportunities for criminals to misappropriate personal information and then use it to commit crime. One of the challenges to be faced in countering identity theft is the fact that obtaining personal information intended by a person to be kept private is not in itself "theft," since that information is not defined as "property;" consequently, law violations do not occur until the information is used to commit fraud or another type of clearly defined crime. "Money laundering" is generally defined as "the processing of criminal proceeds to conceal or disguise their illegal origin." Since this is generally done by misusing legitimate financial systems, it is a serious threat to the integrity of financial systems and financial institutions. A number of international standards for combating money laundering are already in place. The key to countering the bulk of money-laundering enterprises is a cooperative mechanism between private financial institutions and appropriate national authorities, in order to facilitate the identification, investigation, and successful prosecution of money-laundering cases. Internationally sponsored technical assistance to developing countries and countries with economies in transition is needed to facilitate this effort. 4 notes and an appended hypothetical case of economic crime for discussion in the workshop