All over the world, societies are increasingly reliant on the identification information. Identity-related information about individuals is used e.g. for banking, shopping, traveling, and collecting social assistance. Increasingly, such information also includes biometric information. The more our society becomes computerized, the more avenues are open for criminals to exploit the vulnerabilities of those systems to commit identity-related crimes, which generate significant profits for criminals each year, with a far-reaching impact not only on economies and online commerce but also on individuals who fall victim to it. Where
identity-related information is obtained by criminals, it can be abused to launder money, commit fraud and enable illicit activities for organized crime purposes, including acts of corruption, human trafficking, migrant smuggling, and even terrorism.
Millions of dollars can be stolen using false identification either in highly sophisticated single events or through millions of smaller incidents. In the hands of unscrupulous criminals, these illegally derived profits can be used to commit further crimes.
