Season Over For 'Phishing'?
President Bush on Thursday signed into law a bill that boosts criminal penalties against phishing and many other forms of identity fraud, also called identity theft.
Known as the Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act, or ITPEA, the measure sets up punishment guidelines for anyone who possesses someone else's identification-related information with intent to commit a crime. "Identity theft undermines the basic trust on which our economy depends," Bush said before signing the legislation. "When a person takes out an insurance policy, or makes an online purchase, or opens a savings account, he or she must have confidence that personal financial information will be protected and treated with care. Identity theft harms not only its direct victims, but also many businesses and customers whose confidence is shaken." Though solid numbers are hard to come by, identity fraud has been called the fastest-growing crime in the United States, affecting millions of Americans at a cost of billions of dollars a year. The Federal Trade Commission estimates that 10 million Americans become victims of identity fraud a year, while researcher Gartner places the annual number at around 7 million.
Source: C|Net
Known as the Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act, or ITPEA, the measure sets up punishment guidelines for anyone who possesses someone else's identification-related information with intent to commit a crime. "Identity theft undermines the basic trust on which our economy depends," Bush said before signing the legislation. "When a person takes out an insurance policy, or makes an online purchase, or opens a savings account, he or she must have confidence that personal financial information will be protected and treated with care. Identity theft harms not only its direct victims, but also many businesses and customers whose confidence is shaken." Though solid numbers are hard to come by, identity fraud has been called the fastest-growing crime in the United States, affecting millions of Americans at a cost of billions of dollars a year. The Federal Trade Commission estimates that 10 million Americans become victims of identity fraud a year, while researcher Gartner places the annual number at around 7 million.
Source: C|Net
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BTW where does the term phishing come from in this context??
It is becoming rampant in Canada, too. We had two guys here in Halifax do the insert in the debit machine that reads the magnetic strip. Cops figure they robbed people's accounts for over $100,000 CDN (or $8,000 USD haha)