Identity theft cases in relation to financial institutions primarily involve account takeovers and fraudulent applications. An account takeover occurs when someone obtains a victim's identity information and uses it to take over an existing account held by the victim, usually by asking the bank to change the address on the account to an address under the thief's control and then requesting that an additional credit card be sent to the new address. A fraudulent application case occurs when someone obtains a victim's identity information and uses it to apply for new credit and/or open new accounts. Mail theft, "dumpster diving," and pretext calling are three low-tech means of obtaining personal information. There are many investigative techniques that can be used to combat these identity theft schemes. Bank records on employee actions can be used to trace any bank employee violations relative to the selling of information on customers. The records of financial institutions also include caller ID information for all calls relative to accounts. Further, bank investigators enter the information that pertains to fraudulent accounts, such as addresses and telephone numbers, and then run a search to determine whether accounts are linked. Any investigator of such cases should perform the same type of analysis if it has not been previously performed by bank employees. If an account is opened online, the e-mail account used to open the account may be traced. The most valuable investigative technique is to "follow the money." At some point, the perpetrator must reveal a point of contact for receiving any transfer of money or illegally obtained goods. These points of contact can be used to detect and arrest the offender. In discussing Congress' response to the identify theft problem, attention is given to the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act of 1998; the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, which prohibits fraudulent access to financial information; and the amendment of Federal sentencing guidelines to provide appropriate penalties under Section 4 of the Identity Theft Assumption and Deterrence Act of 1998. In the concluding section of this article, entitled "victim notification," Federal investigators are advised to bring a victim/witness coordinator on board immediately in order to advise victims of the nature and consequences of the offense and provide them with materials and information on the progress of the case and how they may cooperate in its resolution. Victim contact and resource information is provided.