The most basic penalty is paying the victim for the losses in monetary terms. In normal cases it takes $808 in order to restore the person’s identity. It also takes around 175 hours of time.
If the person steals the identity of someone to commit some kind of crime, then it is aggravated identity theft. Here the person will be subject to at least 2 years of imprisonment. There is no probation in between.
If the identity of the person is stolen in order to commit any crime of terrorism, the person will be imprisoned for 5 years. These five years are in additional to other kinds of punishments to be met. The time period may also move up to 25 years depending on the consequence of the losses. This imprisonment may be either national or international.
If one is involved in the phishing scam, then he/she will be sentenced to 2 years of imprisonment.
If anyone is caught being the insider of some identity theft scam, the person will be charged penalty and will be imprisoned as well. This penalty can be for employees, tellers and managers
Depending on the nature of the crime,
the fine will be charged. If the crime is serious, more fine will be there. This fine can move up to $50,000 and can be coupled with 5 years of imprisonment. This can also move up to 10 years of imprisonment and $100000.
If you are caught being an accomplice in some identity theft scheme then you will be severely punished.
Identity theft is the type of crime which is increasing at a rapid pace. The impact of identity theft and the consequences of the penalty may be devastating. Identity theft has been in the news for the past many decades since the very advent of the internet. The penalty can be severe as identity theft is a serious crime.