The study concludes that ID theft and fraud is a significant and growing problem in the United Kingdom that is linked to organized crime's activities in illegal immigration (including human trafficking), money laundering, drug smuggling, and financial fraud in the government and private sectors. It also determined that identity theft is facilitated by the minimal and loose security standards for the issuing of government documentation used for identity verification, as well as lax procedures for checking identities at points where ID is required. Currently, the theft and use of the personal information of another person is not in itself an offense in the United Kingdom, and penalties for those who make false applications are minimal; prosecutions for such offenses are rare. In proposing a strategy of countermeasures for ID theft and related offenses, the study recommends an overarching strategy that increases the security of government procedures for issuing documents and numbers used in establishing a person's identity. Specific security recommendations are offered. Among the recommendations are the checking of applications against a register of known frauds and fraudsters; the use of information systems that can check applications for consistency against data already held by government agencies, and a central register of documents reported stolen. Also recommended are a stronger coordination of counter-fraud measures and investigations, as well as the creation of a new offense of identity theft that would make successful prosecution easier and more worthwhile. Appended supplementary information