Identity theft affects millions of Americans every year and has proven to be a difficult crime to investigate and prosecute. The NCIC files have contained information from law enforcement officers regarding stolen vehicles, firearms, securities, and property for years, which has helped in the identification and recovery of stolen property. In April 2005, the NCIC Identity Theft File became operational and is intended to assist both police officers and crime victims. The NCIC Identity Theft File contains the records of identity theft victims along with descriptive information, such as date of birth, social security number, and type of identity theft, along with a password which is kept in the file and is known to the victim. The NCIC Identity Theft File works when an officer makes a query into the NCIC system, which automatically searches all files. If a positive match is found within the Identity Theft File, the officer is informed and can use the password and other personal information to ascertain whether the individual under suspicion is using a fake identity. The authors describe how victims can have a NCIC file created by making a report of identity theft to a qualified law enforcement agency, which can then assist the victim with creating the NCIC Identity Theft File. The Identity Theft File currently contains roughly 2,600 records from 29 States and has the potential to offer a powerful tool against identity theft. 1 note