Quote:
Originally Posted by Nate the great
No. Fraud is fraud; it is not theft. You can commit fraud without stealing anything.
The problem with the term "identity theft" is that it is more metaphysical than practical. My identity cannot be stolen; I will always be me. Someone might commit fraud in claiming to be me, but since I am still me nothing has been stolen.
|
"Many hoaxes are fraudulent, although those not made for personal gain are not technically frauds. Defrauding people of money is presumably the most common type of fraud." - quote from wikipedia. If you defraud someone it is stealing in my book.
It is true that you still have you identity which is why it is like the copyright case. But legally it is called identity theft. Actually they don't commit fraud by claiming to be you. They commit a hoax. They commit fraud on a bank by using your name to extract money but then they didn't commit fraud against you since they did actually commit the hoax against you personally. However, it is a life ruining experience but no fraud was committed against you personally so I guess it shouldn't be a crime (in your view) since we haven't got a good name for it.
Dale