AUSTRALIA DISCUSSION ON IDENTITY THEFT ISSUESIdentity crisis - ITNews - smh.com.au Federal Trade Commission survey in the US calculated the cost to business and financial institutions to be $61 billion last year, with consumers losing $6.4 billion, while the British Cabinet Office estimates the cost of identity fraud to the British economy was at least $1.6 billion in 2000-01.

Identity fraud can range from fake university degrees to phantom beds in nursing homes occupied by non-existent patients and serviced by non-existent staff