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ID theft education provided by U partnership

October 19, 2001

A hands-on workshop aimed to help law enforcement professionals lower the rates of one of the largest violations of personal security in America, will be held Saturday and Oct. 27.

Those who attend the workshop, mostly law enforcement and criminal justice professionals and a few graduate students, will be working to solve actual cases of identity theft - the unlawful use or transfer of an individual’s means of identification.

“It is a huge, huge issue,” said, Judith Collins, an associate professor of criminal justice. “The way we thought we could help best is by teaching them to do it themselves.”

Means of identification may include a name, social security number, credit card number, cellular phone electronic serial number or any other information that may be used to identify an individual.

Collins is director of the Identity Theft University-Business Partnership, an effort by MSU to collaborate with other universities, businesses and other organizations to address identity theft issues.

The partnership, which has been in operation for about a year, has assisted in solving identity theft cases for General Motors Corp., the FBI and the CIA, Collins said.

“We are pioneers in a new process that we developed that we use to track criminals on the Internet,” Collins said. “We trace (the thieves’) footprints back to their original source.”

Sandy Hoffman, who volunteers for the partnership, said she became involved with the MSU group when her son had his identity stolen in November 1999.

“Identity theft is something most people don’t understand, unless it happens to you or someone you know,” she said. “There are tools against this, why not use them and help fight?”

Tracy McGinley, an instructor of criminal justice at Bowling Green University who is also part of the partnership, said it was started to help teach practitioners how to further investigate the crime.

“We determined there was very little statistical evidence,” she said. “It was just a growing problem. We felt there was a need for research and training.”

She said it is especially important to understand identity theft after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks because it is believed the terrorists may have used stolen identities.

“The people who commit these crimes are computer savvy,” she said. “But they don’t know all the ways. They leave footprints on the Internet. They don’t cover their tracks completely.”

The eight-hour workshop costs $200. To enroll, call the School of Criminal Justice at (800)892-9051.

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