Document fraud and identity theft
Also known as: Identity theft · Fake ID · Identity fraud · Aggravated identity theft · 18 U.S.C. 1028
Producing or using false identity documents, or using another person's identifying information without authority, to commit fraud — federal crimes under 18 U.S.C. §1028 and §1028A.
Legal basis
18 U.S.C. §1028
Federal law covers both halves of the problem. 18 U.S.C. §1028 makes it a crime to produce or transfer false identification documents and, since the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act, to knowingly use another person's means of identification to commit a federal crime or a state felony. §1028A, aggravated identity theft, adds a mandatory two years to the sentence when that use happens during certain felonies such as wire or bank fraud.
Businesses carry obligations too. Under the FTC's Red Flags Rule, financial institutions and creditors with covered accounts must run a written identity theft prevention program designed to detect, prevent and mitigate identity theft. Victims report and recover through IdentityTheft.gov.
Document checks alone lose to good forgeries and to real documents in the wrong hands. The stronger test is consistency: does this document match a live person, does that person's data hold together across sources, and does the device and network around the application belong to them or to a ring that has used it before.
Frequently asked questions
What should I do if someone uses my identity?
Report it at IdentityTheft.gov, which generates a recovery plan, contact the companies where the fraud happened, and consider placing a fraud alert or credit freeze with the nationwide credit bureaus.
What is aggravated identity theft?
Under 18 U.S.C. §1028A, knowingly using another person's means of identification during certain felonies, such as wire, mail or bank fraud. It carries a mandatory two-year prison term on top of the sentence for the underlying crime.