News / Education
Drug Addiction Source of Identity Theft
All across the county incidents of identity theft are increasing.
Detective Byron Pierce of the Overland Park, Kansas, Police Department believes he understand the connection between fraud and drug addiction:
"Identity theft is 100 percent free financing for their drugs, When you finance your drugs with other peoples' personal information, there's no risk associated with buying any amount of drugs because it's not affecting your bottom line. Identity theft is also an easy crime to commit, and if you get caught the penalties are less severe than those associated with other crimes, The people involved in these crimes know that. Everyone talks ... there's a lot of collaboration and they'll say 'that's a good idea, let's try it."The reason methamphetamine addicts are perfect perpetrators for this kind of crime is that the drug allows them to stay up for long periods of time and puts them in the frame of mind that they are willing to do repetitive tasks such as piecing shredded documents together and testing stolen credit cards on the internet.
Add to this the powerful cravings caused by the drug and you have the makings of a perfect plot – fueled by motivation and opportunity.
U.S. Postal Inspector Bob Maes said about the meth identity theft connection:
"In the West it seems like methamphetamine abuse runs hand-in-hand with identity theft, These meth addicts all know someone who will trade drugs for Social Security numbers. One meth addict will know someone who does dumpster diving, one knows someone who steals mail, and another knows someone who is into home burglaries. The issue is not the ID, it's the date of birth, Social Security, or identification number on that ID, That's what they want. And when you talk to these meth users, they'll know the going rate for a checkbook or a credit card."The good news is that meth addicts respond very well to drug rehabilitation. The cravings can be handled and physical withdrawal symptoms are not as harsh as with drugs such as heroin or prescription drugs.
Getting addicts into treatment is the best way to curb this alarming trend.
A key part of recovery is Achieving and maintaining a personal set of ethics.
