Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Geographies of identity theft in the U.S.: understanding spatial and demographic patterns, 2002–2006

  • Published:
GeoJournal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Identity theft is among the fastest growing white-collar crimes in the United States, although official recognition of it as a criminal act is a relatively recent development. Utilizing theoretical framework established in crime geography, GIS mapping and spatial statistics are employed to conduct a spatial analysis of identity theft in the U.S. from 2002 to 2006. Distinct regional variations, such as high rates in the western and southwestern states, and low rates in New England and the central plains states, are identified for identity theft. Significant spatial patterns of identity theft victims alongside social demographic variables are also revealed in order to better understand the regional patterns that may suggest underlying social causes contributing to identity theft. Potential social variables, such as race/ethnicity and urban–rural populations, are shown to have similar patterns that may be directly associated with U.S. identity theft victims.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Acohido, B. (2007). Use of social security number puts military at risk of ID theft. USA Today, B1.

  • Allison, S. F. H., Schuck, A. M., & Lersch, K. M. (2005). Exploring the crime of identity theft: Prevalence, clearance rates, and victim/offender characteristics. Journal of Criminal Justice, 33(1), 19–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, K. B. (2006). Who are the victims of identity theft? The effect of demographics. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 25(2), 160–171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anselin, L. (1995). Local indicators of spatial association-LISA. Geographical Analysis, 27(2), 93–115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anselin, L., Cohen, J., Cook, D., Gorr, W., & Tita, G. (2000). Spatial analyses of crime. Criminal justice, Vol. 4. In D. Duffee (Ed.), Measurement and analysis of crime and justice (pp. 213–262). Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourne, M. L. G., & Deaton, M. L. (2005). The dynamics of identity theft: A comparison of symptomatic and systemic solutions. Conference Proceedings of the Systems Dynamics Society. http://207.44.232.77/conferences/2005/proceed/papers/BOURN189.pdf. Accessed 20 September 2008.

  • Cairncross, F. (2001). The death of distance: How the communications revolution is changing our lives. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheney, J. S. (2003). Identity theft: A pernicious and costly fraud. Federal reserve bank of philadelphia discussion paper, payment cards center. Philadelphia: Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=927415. Accessed 30 October 2008.

  • Christens, B., & Speer, P. W. (2005). Predicting violent crime using urban and suburban densities. Behavior and Social Issues, 14(2), 113–127.

    Google Scholar 

  • CIFAS (2004). Deceased fraud. http://www.cifas.org.uk/default.asp?edit_id=578-57. Accessed 1 October 2008.

  • Cohen, J. (1941). The geography of crime. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 217, 29–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins, J. M. (2006). Investigating identity theft: A guide for businesses, law enforcement, and victims. Hoboken: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Computer Fraud, & Security. (2008). ID theft levels rise unabated. Front matter. Computer Fraud & Security, 2008(3): 1.

  • Conkey, C. (2006). ID theft complaints still rising, but rate of increase slows. The Wall Street Journal (Eastern Edition), New York, D1.

  • DPS (2008). Deceased preference service. http://www.deceasedidentityfraud.co.uk/index.htm. Accessed 20 September 2008.

  • Evans, D. J., & Herbert, D. T. (1989). The geography of crime. London & New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Federal Trade Commission. (2003). Federal trade commission overview of the identity theft program. http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/pdf/ftc_overview_id_theft.pdf. Accessed 7 July 2007.

  • Federal Trade Commission. (2007). Identity theft victim complaint data: Figures and trends January 1–December 31, 2006. Online version. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/downloads/clearinghouse_2006.pdf. Accessed 15 September 2008.

  • Georges, D. E. (1978). The geography of crime and violence: A spatial and ecological perspective. Washington, DC: Association of American Geographers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glaeser, E. L., & Sacerdote, B. (1999). Why is there more crime in cities? Journal of Political Economy, 107(S6), 225–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harries, K. D. (1974). The geography of crime and justice. New York: McGraw Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harries, K. D. (1988). Regional variations in homicide, capital punishment, and perceived crime severity in the United States. Geografiska Annaler. Series B, Human Geography, 70(3), 325–334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harries, K. D. (1999). Mapping crime: Principle and practice. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herbert, D. T. (1982). The geography of urban crime. New York: Longman, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Higgins, G. E., Hughes, T., Ricketts, M. L., & Wolfe, S. E. (2008). Identity theft complaints: Exploring the state-level correlates. Journal of Financial Crime, 15(3), 296–307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hodgson, T. W. (2008). From famine to feast: The prosecution of multi-jurisdictional financial crime in the electronic age. Journal of Financial Crime, 15(3), 320–337.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holt, T. J. (2004). The fair and accurate credit transactions act: New tool to fight identity theft. Business Horizons, 47(5), 3–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hynds, L. (2003). Hi-Tech Crime is the “Real Thing”. Computer Fraud & Security (5), 4.

  • ID Analytics (2007a). U.S. identity fraud hot spots. February 2007 white paper. http://www.idanalytics.com/whitepapers/. Accessed 10 September 2008.

  • ID Analytics (2007b). U.S. identity fraud rates by geography. February 2007 white paper. http://www.idanalytics.com/whitepapers/. Accessed 10 September 2008.

  • Ingram, D. M. (2006). How to minimize your risk of identity theft. Journal of the American Optometric Association, 77(6), 312–314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kahn, C. M., & Roberds, W. (2008). Credit and identity theft. Journal of Monetary Economics, 55(2), 251–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, R. D. (2009). The revenge of geography. Foreign Policy, May/June Issue. http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4862. Accessed May 2, 2009.

  • Liu, L. C., Koong, K. S., Allison, M., & Wei, J. (2005). An examination of online fraud complaint occurrences. Issues in Information Systems, 6(2), 161–167.

    Google Scholar 

  • LoPucki, L. M. (2001). Human identification theory and the identity theft problem. Texas Law Review, 80, 89–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lottier, S. (1938a). Distribution of criminal offenses in metropolitan regions. The Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science, 29(1), 37–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lottier, S. (1938b). Distribution of criminal offenses in sectional regions. The Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science, 29(3), 329–344.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malecki, E. J., & Moriset, B. (2008). The digital economy: Business organization, production processes, and regional developments. London & New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Markusen, A. (1996). Sticky places in slippery space: A typology of industrial districts. Economic geography, 72(3), 293–313.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • May, D. A., & James, E. H. (2004). Identity Theft. New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Milne, G. R. (2003). How well do consumers protect themselves from identity theft? Journal of Consumer Affairs, 37(2), 388–403.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milne, G. R., Rohm, A. J., & Bahl, S. (2004). Consumers’ protection of online privacy and identity. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 38(2), 217–232.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moye, S. (2006). Fair and accurate credit transaction act: More protection for consumers. The Information Management Journal, 40(3), 62–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mulrean, J. (2006). The worst states for identity theft. MSN Money. http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Banking/FinancialPrivacy/P125094.asp. Accessed 6 Aug 2008.

  • Newman, G. R., & NcNally, M. M. (2005). Identity Theft Literature Review. Document submitted to U.S. Department of Justice. http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/210459.pdf. Accessed 20 July 2007.

  • Norum, P. S., & Weagley, R. O. (2006). College students, Internet use, and protection from online identity theft. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 35(1), 45–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Brien, T. L. (2004). Identity theft is epidemic. Can it be stopped? New York Times, Section 3: 1, 4.

  • Peet, R. (1975). The geography of crime: A political critique. The Professional Geographer, 27(3), 277–281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saunders, K. M., & Zucker, B. (1999). Counteracting identity fraud in the information age: The identity theft and assumption deterrence act. International Review of Law, Computers, and Technology, 13(2), 183–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shannon, L. W. (1954). The spatial distribution of criminal offenses by state. The Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science, 45(3), 264–273.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Slosarik, K. (2002). Identity theft: An overview of the problem. The Justice Professional, 15(4), 329–343.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snook, B., Cullen, R. M., Mokros, A., & Harbort, S. (2005). Serial murderers’ spatial decisions: Factors that influence crime location choice. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 2(3), 147–164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stana, R. M. (2004). Identity theft: Prevalence and cost appear to be growing. In C. Hayward (Ed.), Identity Theft (pp.17–72). New York: Novinka Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, B. (2004). Your evil twin: Behind the identity theft epidemic. Hoboken: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Synovate (2003). Identity theft survey report. Prepared for the Federal Trade Commission. www.ftc.gov/os/2003/09/synovatereport.pdf. Accessed 3 September 2008.

  • United States 105th Congress (1998). Identity theft and assumption deterrence act of 1998 (H.R. 4151,EH; S.512.ES). Washington, DC: United States 105th Congress, 2d session.

  • Weicher, N. (2007). Educating students about ID theft. Business Week Online, 28.

  • Welborn, A. A. (2004). Identity theft: An overview of proposed legislation. In C. Hayward (Ed.), Identity theft (pp. 1–16). New York: Novinka Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Willox, N. A., & Regan, T. (2002). Identity fraud: Providing a solution. Journal of Economic Crime Management, 1(1), 1–14.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

    Gina W. Lane

  2. Center for Urban & Regional Analysis, Department of Geography, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA

    Daniel Z. Sui

Authors
  1. Gina W. Lane
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Daniel Z. Sui
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gina W. Lane.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lane, G.W., Sui, D.Z. Geographies of identity theft in the U.S.: understanding spatial and demographic patterns, 2002–2006. GeoJournal 75, 43–55 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-010-9342-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-010-9342-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation