The war on ID theft

[Scarecrow Man]

The specter of identity thieves trolling the Internet continues to darken the future for e-commerce, study after study shows. Fear of fraud keeps people from banking, shopping, and even answering simple questions online. Recognizing the scope of the problem, authorities across the globe have vowed crackdowns on Internet criminals. Sometimes they even catch a few.

That happened this week, when U.S. law enforcement authorities announced they had arrested 28 people in eight U.S. states and six foreign countries in connection with a web site used for the online trafficking of stolen ID information and credit cards. While “Operation Firewall,” as the feds dubbed the bust, marks an impressive demonstration of cooperation among industry and interdepartmental and international law enforcement, the war against ID theft still has a long way to go.

Source

It's sickening... "Altogether, online U.S. adults lost $11.7 billion during the year ending May 2004."