Describe the cyber crime of identity theft.

Identity theft occurs when the wrongdoer steals a form of identification-such as a name, date of birth, or Social Security number-and uses the information to access the victim's financial resources. This crime existed to a certain extent before the widespread use of the Internet. Thieves would "steal" calling-card numbers by watching people using public telephones, or they would rifle through garbage to find bank account or credit-card numbers.