:: Deepquest ::

It is the hot crime of the 21st century – and YOU are the target. Sophisticated super-hackers are turning identity theft into a multi-billion-dollar criminal enterprise, plundering data about ordinary people from alumni directories, ATM machines, credit cards, tax returns and myriad other sources.

The massive scams are costing American businesses and consumers more than $47 billion a year, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

Rings of international terrorists, money launderers, and petty street thieves are in the business, according to Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau and other law enforcement officials.

“How the information is stolen – high-tech or low-tech – is one thing, but what happens in the end is just as important; how the information is used and the impact on the victim, or credit card companies and other businesses,” said Aaron Karczmer, chief of the Manhattan district attorney’s identity theft bureau.

Nearly 10 million American identities are hijacked a year, with more stolen worldwide, according to the FTC.

Theoretically secure databases with personal and credit information on millions of American have been penetrated recently, including the Polo Ralph Lauren customer list.

“It’s not just the money lost, but the time it takes for a victim to clear their credit and get their identity back,” said Dave Foley, of the Identity Theft Resource Center.

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