http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... 07-ON.html
Arizona a leader in ID theft - again
Russ Wiles
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 7, 2007 02:21 PM

Arizona has affirmed its reputation as an ID-theft hotbed, posting more per-capita complaints than any other state in 2006, the Federal Trade Commission reported today.

It was the fourth consecutive year that Arizona led the nation in per-capita ID theft, which refers to a range of crimes including stolen credit-card and utility accounts, loan applications under fake names, job applications using counterfeit Social Security cards and so on.

Arizona finished 10th overall when all consumer frauds were tallied on a per-capita basis by the FTC. Other frauds include fake or misleading sweepstakes and lotteries, Internet scams, swindles involving business opportunities and so on. advertisement




However, white-collar crimes appear to have tapered off a bit, declining to nearly 674,400 reported cases nationally from 693,500 in 2005. ID thefts represented 36 percent of the 2006 total.

Employment-related crimes such as applying for a job using a counterfeit Social Security card appear to have boosted ID thefts in Arizona and other Southwestern states. Nevada finished second in per-capita complaints, followed by California, Texas and Florida.

"I think what's driving it is our illegal immigrant population," said David Barton, a partner specializing in employment law at Quarles & Brady in Phoenix. "All the border states are in the same boat."

In Arizona, employment-related fraud accounts for about one-third of total ID-theft complaints. Barton said he feels these crimes are less severe than thefts that directly harm a victim's finances or borrowing capacity, such as stolen credit cards or applying for loans under a fake name.

"I think the problem in Arizona is way overblow," he said.

Nationally, credit-card fraud was the most common type of ID theft, followed by phone and other utility-account fraud.



Reach the reporter at russ.wiles@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8616.