Table of Contents

1 Executive Summary	7

2 Introduction	8

2.1.1 Definitions and typology of key terms	8

2.1.2 Research question and methodological observations	9

2.1.3 The relation between media and reality	9

3 Identity-related crime in films	12

3.1.1 Roles and identities in history	12

3.1.2 Identity change in history and films	12

3.1.3 Examples of identity-related crime in mainstream films	13

3.1.4 Analysis of identity-related crime in mainstream films	20

4 Identity-related crime: reality check	22

4.1.1 Dominant types of identity-related crime	22

4.1.2 The role of ICT in identity “theft”	22

4.1.3 Target groups	22

4.1.4 Aim of identity “theft”	23

4.1.5 Summary – characteristics of identity-related crime	24

5 Conclusions	25

6 Appendix	27

Executive Summary

This study examines the manifestation of identity-related crime in films. Films draw on primeval stories and fears at least as much as on technological trends and topical situations. Identity “theft” and other forms of identity-related crime are a permanent feature in mass culture, since identity and its integrity, preservation and protection from others form an integral part of the human mind and society.

The working hypothesis of this research is that the average person most often comes across the issue of identity-related crime, and identity “theft” in particular, in mass culture indirectly rather than personally. It is therefore important to examine how identity-related crime features in mainstream films, particularly since media theory suggests that films constitute reality as source of information and have an educating effect on people.

This study starts with a brief historical introduction. It then classifies international mainstream films (accompanied by short synopses) according to the various forms of identity-related crime. Next, it describes the occurrence of identity-related crime in reality, in order to conclude how identity-related crime appears in films as compared to real-life.

This study shows that the picture of identity-related crime suggested by films is mostly misleading. Films, especially mainstream, mass-cultural products, oversimplify the issue and depict it as if victims have no means to defend themselves and are entirely at the mercy and whim of identity “thieves”. These films focus on the rare cases where the targeted individual falls victim to fraud, is robbed of his identity, and is completely replaced in society by the identity “thief”. Contrary to reality, this emerges as a standard or prototypical form of identity “theft” in films. This is understandable, since such a plot is more interesting, exciting, and more effective on the screen as compared with the bulk of credit-card frauds and other abuses taking place in reality. The bulk of real-life identity “theft” cases cause financial damage but do not completely disrupt the social life of the victims. In reality, invisible criminals do not strive to completely destroy their victims’ personality and identity but rather try to “simply” make money out of their crime without being seen or shedding blood. Such cases are unsuitable for mainstream films.

As a result, whoever receives their information mainly from films will form a false picture of identity-related crime and may remove the issue into the realms of fiction and the world of urban legends. The bias of films to focus on extreme and unrealistic cases therefore poses a risk that current trends in identity-related crime and legal, organisational, and technical countermeasures are underdeveloped in citizens’ world views.

Given the importance of awareness-raising to combat identity-related crime, it is vital that actions are taken to adjust the picture of identity-related crime, in particular identity “theft”, as it is sketched in the media at large. Film producers could contribute to this by showing standard data-security measures, such as a virus check, as part of everyday life. However, films are not likely in future to sketch a substantially different picture of identity “theft”, given the primeval appeal of extreme identity takeover as a theme in visually mediated fiction. The required readjustment of the picture of identity-related crime will therefore have to rely on other mass-media, such as non-fiction literature and documentaries, the press, and blogs.

Introduction

Definitions and typology of key terms

The linkage between an identifier and the person or role identified by the identifier – as Rost, Meints and Hansen state – can be rearranged in various ways:

identity collision, e.g., when two people have the same name, or when a wrong e-mail address is used; this usually occurs unintentionally;

identity change, when someone takes on another identity, usually intentionally:

2.1. identity takeover, when someone takes over the identity of another person without that person’s consent;

2.2. identity delegation, when someone uses someone else’s identity with that person’s consent;

2.3. identity exchange, when two or more people, with mutual consent, use each other’s identity;

2.4. identity creation, when someone creates the identity of a non-existing person;

identity deletion, e.g., revoking a digital-signature certificate, or reporting the death of an existing person, for example in a newspaper (passive identity deletion);

identity restoration, i.e., restoring the link between identifier and person.

If the rearrangement of identity linkage is illegal, then it is identity-related crime. Rost, Meints and Hansen suggest categorizing identity-related crime as subcategories in the above-mentioned typology when executed unlawfully. For example, the unlawful changing of someone’s identity roughly relates to what we understand as “identity fraud”, or ID fraud.

Finally, we use the following definitions in this study for the central notions.

‘Identity-related crime’ concerns all punishable activities that have identity as a target or a principal tool.

‘Identity fraud’ is fraud or another unlawful activity committed with identity as a target or principal tool (i.e. identity “theft”, deceitful identity delegation, deceitful identity exchange, deceitful identity creation).

‘Identity “theft”’ is fraud or another unlawful activity where the identity of an existing person is used as a target or principal tool without that person’s consent.’

After Koops and Leenes, we use the terms illegal identity takeover and identity “theft” as synonyms.

Research question and methodological observations

This study is fundamentally desk research undertaking the task of examining the manifestation of identity-related crime in mass culture, primarily in films, and the basis of its occurrence in mainly American mainstream productions by using some typical examples in connection with the issue.

The working hypothesis of our research is that the average person most often comes across the issue of identity “theft” indirectly rather than personally, through mass culture. It is mostly in films that the public has the opportunity to gain the most comprehensive idea of identity “theft”. As opposed to the news, which does not reach such a wide circle (not as much as a successful Hollywood production), in films that deal with the theme it is not simply the factual, raw data of identity “theft” that are in focus (to whom it happens, and the extent of the harm it causes) but viewers can get an answer to how it happens (what methods the “thief” applies) and what kind of consequences it has, and they are introduced to the issue from the standpoint of the dark side. Ultimately, the public is able to thoroughly contemplate the details of the theme, an opportunity not afforded by mainstream media news.

It is not just depth that differs in how identity “theft” is presented in news and films, but its frequency too. The theme can be encountered more often in films than in the mainstream – early evening – news, in which only the really “special” cases are featured, which have significant news value compared with the rest of the news stories in general (e.g., either because they happen to celebrities, thus removing them from the mundane, or they take place on a very large scale, thus impacting a lot of people).

The question we pose is: how real is the picture suggested to us in films, and what are the consequences if this picture is received uncritically? In other words, how real a picture of identity “theft” does the person create who only tries to imagine the phenomenon of identity “theft” based on films?

The relation between media and reality

October 30, 1938 is a very important date in media history and one of the key reference point for those who state that media has serious impact on everyday life and behaviour. That day, H.G. Wells novel The War of the Worlds as adapted by George Orson Welles was broadcasted on the radio as a ‘news drama’. The story, featuring aliens from Mars attacking the Earth, was so credible that many listeners thought it was real, and they tried to escape and hide from the Martian invasion.

At least since this radio play, media researchers’ interest has turned to the investigation of relations of mass media and reality: what kind of effects do media have on society? Based for example on the experiences of Welles’ drama, researchers have stated that media messages are predominantly accepted by their audience, therefore media defines the world of a passive society. But in reality, the influence of media is many-sided and more complex than it was suggested in 1930s or 1940s.

In the past 40-50 years, three themes have been on the horizon in mass-communication researches:

processes and effects on society (guided by social psychology),

institutions and organizations of media and how these are embedded in society (guided by organization theory),

messages, images and meanings which are mediated (guided by semiology).

However, there is still a huge debate about the relation between society and media (traditionally film, radio and television, more recently computers and internet), and no clear consensus or a supreme grand theory has evolved in the topic. Some of the most important works within this field are George Gerbner’s cultivation theory , Blumler and Katz’s uses and gratification (UG) model , Maxwell McComb and Donald Shaw’s agenda-setting theory , and lately Byron Reeves and Clifford Nass’s media equation theory.

Cultivation theory is centred on the hypothesis that mass media, and mainly television, creates attitudes, and that heavy viewers’ attitudes are cultivated by the programmes they follow on TV. In Gerbner’s view, television is not a window on or a reflection of the world, but a world in itself. This theory is criticized because of its oversimplification of reality, as not only television has an impact on one life’s, but other people, communities, educational organizations and other media as well.

The UG model (on Uses and Gratifications) claims that people use media to gain different gratifications in personal identity, personal relationships, surveillance and diversion. The third element (surveillance) concerns the fact that media is a source of information and educates people about the world. However, UG also has its limitations; for example, it presumes that every beholder interprets the media messages in the same way.

Agenda-setting theory states that media affects the wider public on what issues to think about and what are the topics of social discussion. There is a proven connection between what is covered in media and news, and what people think is relevant.

The term media equation theory is derived from the equation “media = real life”, and means that people react to media and real life in the same way; people “interact” with television and other media as if they were real and follow the same rules as in the case of interpersonal interaction. Media is more than only a tool: it is part of our social reality. The human brain with its biological evolution is not capable yet to distinguish all the time the new communication technologies from non-mediated communication, and so it mainly perceives media as if it were real life. Hence, media has an influence on our life and our interpersonal reactions, since we take it as reality.

Of course, this study on identity-related crime is not the right place to elaborate a clarified standpoint on these theories or the relation of media and society in general. However, we use these theories in the next pages as a background of our research even if we do not refer back to them in all cases. In our examination of the representation of identity-related crimes in movies and real life, we highlight that movies may constitute reality as source of information and hence educate us; we employ UG theory here. At the same time, the usual lack of news on identity-related crime in primetime news may show the smaller relevance of the topic within Western society (as agenda-setting theory suggests).

Following a short historical and theoretical introduction of identity change, our study will deal with international films (accompanied by a short classification of films with synopses), identity crime in reality (trends and data), and finally a short conclusion as to how the issue appears in films.

Identity-related crime in films

Roles and identities in history

Roles and identities, as well as the changes these have undergone have existed ever since the earliest forms of society. Without doubt roles and identities existed in tribal societies and developed in response to the challenge of communal living and due to every member of society striving in their own way to avoid becoming deviant and thus excluded from society. Archetypal roles were those of the hunter, the gatherer, and more especially that of the fire-maker. Changing these identities did not use to be as easy as nowadays. In fact, in the Middle Ages, for example, it did not even occur to people to change their roles and identities in the way modern people do. On the contrary, their life strategy was to build a stable identity within their social environment. Living up to one’s role in society meant one and the same thing as a safe life.

In his work on medieval man, Aron Gurevich provides a detailed analysis of the forms of medieval thinking, and reveals that the world for the people of the time was a narrow and transparent one, and, more importantly from a modern perspective, it was more ordered; “everything” found its place. With the exception of the very lowest strata of society, everybody recognised and found their assigned place in the hierarchy almost naturally, which was ideologically reinforced by religion. In the Middle Ages, the concealment of identity and the “casting off” of traditional roles existed in regulated forms – one such social safety valve was the classic carnival. In his study on Rabelais, Mikhail Bakhtin gives a detailed analysis of the valve function of the carnival by showing how the 2-3 days of madness, when the world is turned upside down, is in fact extremely regulated, and how important this period is for surviving the rest of the mundane grey days of the year. In this period, the donning of the identity and the identifying features of The Other were seen as a merely temporary event. However, in western European thinking, significant changes have taken place over the past 100 years. One of the most important signs of such change is that 20th-century man has tried to break out of the greyness of an alienated world by demonstrating his individualism, constructing his own idiosyncratic identity to achieve this, with the help of numerous roles and the necessary props to play them out. At the same time, he has insisted on traditions, old established roles, and ancient forms of identity. Of course, this outbreak was contradictory because of the rising human alienation in the past decades and the strengthening consumer capitalism: individuality also became a commodity and a tool of marketing.

Identity change in history and films

Identity exchange and identity takeover – assuming another identity – have manifested themselves in human cultures from the earliest times. It was an inexhaustible source of humour, but it was also important in fairy tales with a moral message to teach – even though nowadays it is becoming an increasingly determining factor in crime facilitated by technology. These days, illegal or non-illegal identity takeover as a source of humour have not been pushed into the background, although this has taken place in the case of its moral teaching element (it has been preserved in its most pure form in Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper and the numerous film adaptations of the story). However, identity change as a possible source of crime is increasingly coming in the limelight. This approach has been intensifying in the period of digital reality and digital identities, now it has become easier than ever before to assume another person’s role, or rather his rights (property), whether it be through plastic surgery (Face/Off), the use of the other’s data (Filofax), or the use and misuse of his account. In the past, complete role swapping was bound by certain restrictions: the impersonator had to bear a certain similarity to the one being impersonated, or an exceptional situation occurred (e.g., twins who had never been aware of each other), and in more rare cases outstanding acting abilities were required. More typically, however, it was blind luck that determined the success of such an undertaking. It is very important to note that in accordance with the thought patterns at that time, there was the constant risk of deception being uncovered. In contrast, in the case of modern illegal identity takeover, this is becoming increasingly difficult. The main reason for this is that a person’s complete physical transformation is achievable, even within a short time (e.g., the agents of Mission: Impossible, who change their rubber mask faces from one minute to the next). Moreover, it is even more difficult to detect if somebody expropriates a digital identity (bankcards, entry codes), since this is physically independent of the individual. The more important our digital identities become, the more we fear losing them – and the stronger the desire on the part of others to procure them.

In light of this development and the importance of media as a source of information and education, it is interesting to make a classification of films which, through a fairly wide selection, demonstrate how the rearrangement of identity linkage occurs in these works. Of course it is not possible to compile every single work on the theme – our aim was rather to strive for variation by using stories that clearly show how the opportunities for role swapping and their expropriation are almost unlimited.

At the very start of our research into the film world, we ran into one of the classics among early films, Charlie Chaplin’s Hitler, which represents humour as one of the key forms of identity “theft” – laced with drama as it naturally would be in the case of a high-standard comedy. Looking at the other end of the time line, the film entitled Filofax (Taking Care of Business) can be regarded as an outstanding work, because despite it having been made at the beginning of the spread of the digital world, it bears all the hallmarks of later films, the only exception being that the data carrier is paper-based. This comedy starring James Belushi and Charles Grodin was shown in cinemas in 1990 and in every respect bears the distinctive features of comedies from the 1980s, while at the same time identity “theft” is the focus throughout the entire film. Out of prison and on his way to the final of the baseball World Series, small-time criminal Jimmy Dworski finds a mislaid filofax organiser with all the data of its owner, on top of a telephone booth. From this point on, the road is paved to role swapping: registration, credit card and ID card. His find allows him to faultlessly take over the role of his victim in every aspect of his life. The injured party, who is an advertising expert, sums up the dangers and opportunities of keeping data in one place, and thus its potential expropriation, when he says: “My whole life was in there.”

Examples of identity-related crime in mainstream films

Identity takeover and other identity changes are more frequently seen in cinema and television productions reaching millions of people than in the news. Below is a table of these worldwidely released films, classified by the type of rearrangement of identity linkage, with a main focus on films from the 1980-2000s.

Identity collision		Grand blond avec une chaussure noire, Le The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe (USA - 1972) Hapless orchestra player becomes an unwitting pawn of rival factions within the French secret service after he is chosen as a decoy by being identified as a super secret agent. The chief of the French secret service agency, picks out a citizen at random and instructs his rival to keep close watch.
		Man In The Iron Mask (1998) King Louis XIV, who prepares to rule France, has a secret good twin brother named Phillipe, who has been imprisoned in the castle and his face hidden behind an iron mask.
Identity change	Identity “theft”	Taking Care of Business (1990) Jimmy Dworski is a criminal. By chance he finds the filofax of executive Spencer Barns who loses it while travelling on a business weekend. Jimmy finds cash, credit cards and the key to a big mansion. He jumps on the opportunity and starts posing as Barns.
		Total Recall (1990) Arnold Schwarzenegger is an Earthbound construction worker who keeps having dreams about Mars. A trip to a false memory transplant service for an imaginary trip to Mars goes terribly wrong and another personality surfaces. When his old self returns, he finds groups of his friends and several strangers seem to have orders to kill him. He finds records his other self left him that tell him to get to Mars to join up with the underground. Who is he? Which personality is correct? Which version of reality is true?
		Reindeer Games (2000) After being imprisoned for six years, Rudy Duncan and his cellmate Nick are finally going to be paroled. When Nick is killed during a prison riot, Rudy decides to assume Nick's identity upon release from prison and to meet up with the unknown woman, about whom he heard a lot from Nick.
		Auggie Rose (2000) An insurance salesman's humdrum existence takes a turn when a stranger, ex-con Auggie Rose, unexpectedly dies in his arms. Assuming the identity of the dead man, the salesman embarks on a double life, keeping it secret from his live-in girlfriend.
		The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) Ripley is a cartoonishly poor young adult whose overriding desire is to belong to a higher - or at least, richer - social class. While he waits upon the subjects of his not so hidden desires, he receives an offer he cannot refuse: to travel to Italy to retrieve the spoiled and hedonistic son of a shipbuilding magnate, Greenleaf Senior. He embarks upon a study of Junior's biography, personality, likes and hobbies. In a chillingly detailed process, he actually assumes Greenleaf's identity. Purple Noon (Plein Soleil, 1960) is based on the same novel, starring Alain Delon as Tom Ripley.
		The Sixth Day (2000) In the world of the very near future, cattle, fish, and even the family pet can be cloned. But cloning humans is illegal - that is until family man Adam Gibson comes home from work one day to find a clone has replaced him. Taken from his family and plunged into a sinister world he doesn't understand, Gibson must not only save himself from the assassins who must now destroy him to protect their secret, but uncover who and what is behind the horrible things happening to him.
		Working Girl (1988) Tess McGill is a frustrated secretary, struggling to forge ahead in the world of big business in New York. She gets her chance when her boss breaks her leg on a skiing holiday. McGill takes advantage of her, simply takes over her office, her apartment, even her wardrobe.
		Big Momma's House (2000) An FBI agent disguises himself as an old lady to protect a beautiful federal witness and her son.
		Fantômas (1964) Criminal mastermind Fantômas, a man of a thousand faces, is unhappy with Fandor, a journalist whose written a fictive interview of him. He kidnaps Fandor, threatens to kill him, but first goes about ruining the journalist's reputation by committing a crime in Fandor's guise. Hot on the trail is police Commissaire Juve, so Fantômas commits a crime looking like him. Soon, our intrepid heroes, Fandor and Juve are on the mastermind's trail, but who's in control?
	Identity delegation	
		Mission: Impossible (1996) Jim Phelps is the leader of the 'Impossible Missions Force’. Ethan Hunt is the point man for an IMF mission to catch a spy in the act of stealing information about the 'covers' of many other covert operatives. In the tradition of the original TV show (this movie is a remake), the viewer is led down many plot twists, turns, and reversals, while the IMF members employ the latest in technology, disguises, and spy gadgetry to accomplish their mission.
		Double Trouble (1984) Greg and Eliot meet up by chance after they come to New York having been offered money to go there by two crooked millionaires, where they asked to pose as them.
		Dave (1993) Dave Kovic looks so much like President Bill Mitchell that he's asked to stand in for him. When Bill falls into a coma, a secret and highly illegal plot is hatched to keep Dave on as the president.
		Overboard (1987) Joanna Slayton falls overboard from her yacht in the harbor of a small Oregon town and she develops amnesia. She's taken in by Dean Profitt, a local carpenter she's previously maligned. Profitt, in revenge, persuades her that she is his wife and the mother of his three boys.
		Gattaca (1997) In the future, society analyzes people’s DNA and determines there role in life. Vincent is myopic and due to die at 30, he has no chance of a career in a society that now discriminates against your genes, instead of your gender, race or religion. He pays Jerome, crippled in an accident, for the use of his identity, and achieves prominence in the Gattaca Corporation, where he is selected for a mission to Saturn. Constantly passing gene tests by diligently using samples of Jerome's hair, skin, blood and urine.
	Identity exchange	Freaky Friday (2003) Annabel and her mother Tess are constant quibblers. Tess's fiance is an unacceptable replacement for Anna's dad, and Anna's music, friends, grades and taste in boys (ad nauseam) are all unacceptable in her mother's eyes. Then dawns that fateful freaky Friday - when Anna and Tess switch bodies, and must learn to live in each other's place.
		Double Take (2001) A man on the run takes another man's passport, only to find himself stuck with the identity of a street hustler. Needing a new identity to get out of town and across the border, Chase obtains a stolen passport— and soon learns the man whose name he's using is in even deeper trouble with the law than himself.
		Face/Off (1997) A revolutionary medical technique allows an undercover agent to take the physical appearance of a major criminal and infiltrate his organization. Archer must "borrow" Troy's face using a surgical procedure to go undercover as Troy, but things go wrong when Troy assumes the identity of Archer.
		Trading Places (1983) Louis Winthorpe III is a successful Philadelphia commodity broker. Billy Ray Valentine is a hustling beggar. Winthorpe's employers, the elderly Duke brothers, make a bet that by switching the lifestyle of the two, Billy Ray will make good and their man will take to a life of crime. Suddenly Louis finds himself uncomprehendingly with no job, no home.
	Identity creation	
		Victor/Victoria (1982) Victoria is a poverty-stricken soprano trying to find work in Paris in the 1930s. With the help of a worldly-wise nightclub singer, she invents her alter-ego Victor, a female impersonator who is hired to sing at a fashionable night spot.
		Mrs Doubtfire (1993) After a bitter divorce, an actor disguises himself as a female housekeeper to spend secret time with his children held in custody by his Ex.
		Johnny Handsome (1989) A career criminal who has been deformed since birth is given a new face by a kindly doctor and paroled from prison.
		Miss Congeniality (2000) When a serial killer indicates that his next target is the Miss United States beauty pageant, the F.B.I. decides that they must get an undercover agent as a participant in the contest. A search uncovers no suitable candidate other than a bumbling female agent.
		Coming To America (1988) It is the 21st birthday of Prince Akeem of Zamunda and he is to marry a woman he never saw before. Now the prince breaks with tradition and travels to America to look for the love of his life, and when he finds it, he acts like a poor boy.
		Le Jumeau (The twin - 1984) Matthias Duval is in love, but he can't choose between the two twin sisters Betty and Liz Kerner. To pick up the two sisters, he invents his own twin brother and will play both characters.
		Point Break (1991) Johnny Utah, a freshman at FBI's bank-robbery crew, goes undercover to infiltrate a gang of surfers he suspects can be the infamous ex-president-robbers.
		Tootsie (1982) Michael Dorsey is an actor, but he is having trouble finding any work. He transforms himself into Dorothy Michaels, and he gets a part as a mature woman in a New York soap opera.
		The Secret Of My Success (1987) Well educated, Kansas born and raised, Brantley Foster sets out to make his fortune in New York. Starting at the bottom doesn't appeal to Brantley, so he pretends to be an executive.
Identity deletion		
		The Net (1995) Angela (a computer expert/geek) discovers secret information on the disk she has received only hours before she leaves for vacation. Her life then turns into a nightmare, her records are erased from existence and she is given a new identity, a drug-addicted prostitute, her house is on sale because of illegal identity takeover, and her friend is killed by a medical malpractice because of a false record in his electronic medical card. She struggles to find out why this has happened and who has it in for her.
		La Femme Nikita (1990) Convicted felon Nikita, instead of going to jail, is given a new identity and trained as a top secret spy/assassin.
Identity restoration		Bourne Identity (2002) Based very loosely on Robert Ludlum's novel, the Bourne Identity is the story of a man whose wounded body is discovered by a fisherman who nurses him back to health. He can remember nothing and begins to try to rebuild his memory based on clues such as the Swiss bank account, the number of which is implanted in his hip. In Zurich the young man discovers his name, Jason Bourne. In addition, he finds a baffling pile of different passports, all with his picture, and a huge pile of cash.

Analysis of identity-related crime in mainstream films

Our selection is somewhat arbitrary but fulfills our aim of illustrating the occurrence of various forms of identity-related crime in films. It shows that the part of “a hero assuming someone else’s role” must be added to the suzhets and structure outlined by V.Y. Propp in his morphological analysis of folk tales , although it might only be such a determining factor in Western culture. Journeys from body to body, fitting into the lives of unknown people, winning someone else’s love, murders after putting on someone else’s face – all this is possible in films. In the beginning, assuming another person’s identity always appeared in the context of assuming no responsibility and remaining unpunished. Later, dictated by the twists and turns of the storyline, identity change sometimes led to tragedies or an endless series of comical situations. Considering that here we are talking about the world of celluloid, it might come as no surprise that with rare exceptions, these stories always have a “happy” ending. This goes for more serious productions too, in which the fraudster falls, the trickery is uncovered and it is seen as betrayal by the environment, yet the conflict is generally nicely resolved. In one of the classic films dealing with digital identity, The Net, the protagonist eventually manages to win back her true identity.

Smaller tricks of crime appear in films in a rather different light: everything is possible here, but the fall of the criminal is not at all evident. There are no unbreakable codes, no unhackable computer systems, retina- or iris-scans, and even fingerprints and thermo images can be easily deceived in the world of master thieves. The positive image rendered to negative heroes has become stronger and thus their tricks more effective. It is no longer true that the bad have to fail. The element of rejecting technological means is a new phenomenon in films, too: every film including this element is a blow to trust in the concept of infallible technology that grew out of the sci-fi literature and films of the seventies and eighties. 2001: A Space Odyssey with HAL2000 going haywire can be regarded as one of the first of such films. Uncertainty is in the air: digital existence heavily makes its presence felt in all aspects of life (money, identity, etc.), but at the same time it can be changed or deleted with a single press of a button. No matter how false this statement is in terms of technology or regulation, this is the message communicated by mass media and this message is thus gradually ingrained in society.

After watching a movie like The Net, a beholder without knowledge of real technological and regulation circumstances of, e.g., illegal identity takeover has doubts whether is it real or fictional. It is not clear which parts are real and which are not. The Net suggests that identity takeover is possible and easy to carry out in an electronic (internet) environment by computer experts; hence, we live in permanent danger. Laymen without interest in computers can hardly distinguish between real and fictional pieces of such stories.

Everyday news of stolen account data or the leaking out of confidential information only deepens such fears. This duality will keep the theme of identity “theft” popular in films – no matter how far technological progress, trust and security may take us.

Identity-related crime: reality check

Dominant types of identity-related crime

Though each type of identity-linkage rearrangement (identity collision/change/deletion and restoration) can have legal relevance, unlawful identity change, or ID fraud, is the most prevalent and most widespread. Within that category, according to some sources, the most damage is caused by abusing identity creation. According to ID Analytics, crime committed with fictitious identities – what they call synthetic identity fraud – accounts for 88.38% of identity fraud, and 73.8% of financial damage caused in the US. In contrast, identity “theft”, or true-name fraud, only accounts for 11.7% of identity fraud, and less than 25% of the damage caused. Other statistics suggest a different picture, with major losses being caused by identity “theft”, although these statistics may tend to neglect illegal identity creation because of the focus of the US legislation on identity “theft”. None of these statistics suggest that unlawful identity delegation and exchange are a substantial issue in real-life.

The role of ICT in identity “theft”

If we take a closer look at the role of ICT in identity “theft”, we can see that it is becoming more and more crucial.

We know of cases when illegal identity takeover is done without any technological support, for example, when celebrity look-alikes try taking advantage of their similar appearance and thus gain financial benefits. Though these cases get much publicity, they are rare and cannot be considered as typical identity “theft” activities.

The role of technology and principally information and communication technologies in identity “theft” is becoming more and more dominant, as more and more aspects of everyday life and activities obtain an electronic or online dimension, where technology performs the processes of identification and authentication.

The two most widespread methods of identity “theft” targeting user PCs and enabling mass data “theft” are phishing, using a flood of e-mail and website scams, and spyware, including keylogger programmes.

Target groups

Identity “theft” activity has got two major target groups. The first is organisations (like payment processors), where hundreds of thousands of users’ PII is stored in large databases in one place. The other target group is the user itself, in which case PII is dispersed and therefore, this requires different methods to obtain illegal access to it.

In their methods, attacks targeting corporations differ from those aimed at users, since in the first case data “thieves” are not after quantity but launch attacks requiring a higher level of preparedness against well-guarded data bases storing large amounts of data. With the development of data brokerage, the number of databases with a mass storage of PII of users and clients has grown. Yet, the largest-scale security breaches in 2005 occurred at companies processing financial transactions (payment processor, card transaction processor).

In spite of some user concerns about identity “theft”, it seems that the active co-operation of users in reducing damage can be relied upon only to a small extent. Even though currently available data-security solutions (antivirus software, antispyware, firewall) and basic data-protection practices could provide a fairly high level of protection, most users opt to do without sufficient protection. According to research carried out among American users at the end of 2005, at least one of the three basic data-security tools (antivirus software, antispyware, firewall) was missing from the PC of 81% of the users, and 56% of them had not even heard of phishing. The research pointed out a perception gap, since 83% of American internet users “falsely believe they are “very” or “somewhat” safe from online theft of information and identity”.

Aim of identity “theft”

More than half of the attacks against computer systems in 2004 were launched with the intention of obtaining financial gain. It was reported in 2004 that global yields from cybercrime first exceeded those from drug trafficking, which then amounted to 105 billion dollars . Naturally, identity “theft” represents only a certain percentage of damage caused by cybercrime.

According to estimates by the American Federal Trade Commission, in the period between 1999 and 2003, 27.3 million Americans, i.e., approximately 10% of the population, was a victim of identity “theft”. The number of victims has almost doubled in each year. In 2003, identity “theft” caused a damage of 48 billion dollars in business enterprises and banks, while the same figure was 5 billion dollars in the case of private individuals, totalling 53 billion dollars. Opening new bank accounts was one form of identity “theft” misuse, targeting 3.23 million people out of the overall 10 million victims. In addition to this, renting flats, claiming healthcare benefits and applying for jobs under a false identity occurred frequently.

The study entitled National Data Breach Analysis published by ID Analytics in December 2005 points out that the number of data breaches hit a record in 2005: in total there were 70 occurrences, affecting the data of 50 million American citizens. However, actual damage was suffered by only 0.098%, that is 50,000 people . In the light of these findings, previous estimates – such as those by the Identity Resource Center (IDRC), claiming that in 2004 ID theft caused a damage of 372 billion (!) dollars for American business enterprises – may have to be revised. Nevertheless, it is clear that, at least in the US and European countries like the UK, financial identity “theft” is a significant societal problem which tends to be growing worse.

Summary – characteristics of identity-related crime

The aim of identity-related crime is predominantly securing financial gain. Illegal identity creation or synthetic identity fraud and identity “theft” or true-name fraud impose the biggest threat in terms of financial damage. Though ICT’s role is increasing in this sort of criminal activity, and there is a race between the technologies of criminals and those of the parties trying to counter it, much damage is done by people who do not necessarily have technological mastery, but by people with legitimate access to large-scale databases, or by people deceiving the latter through social engineering to these databases. Therefore, the human factor and data-protection policies of organizations may be the weakest link in combating identity-related crime.

The majority of users consider data security and protection as the responsibility of their service providers. They want their service providers of any kind to secure their information systems while they do transactions with their clients and customers, but the users themselves are far less aware or willing to apply data security tools designed to protect them.

Conclusions

Despite the new ICT-driven trends, identity “theft” and identity-related crimes are not limited to the technology-driven modern world. We found examples from history and literature from long before the age of technology. These differed in the sense that in the old days, the successful “theft” of identity used to depend on the direct action of the perpetrator and this activity was usually visible. Now, there is a stronger indirect element of technological mediation, and there is less and less personal physical contact. Technical systems can completely hide the identity taker, who does not even need to resemble the victim when taking and using an identifier such as a social-security number, a credit-card number or the login data of an existing person.

At this point, it must be noted that popular films on the theme of identity “theft” are often misleading, since current technological trends and the reality of regulatory initiatives present a vastly different picture than the one painted by films in connection with the issue. Film productions, especially mainstream, mass-cultural products, oversimplify the issue and depict it as if victims have no means to defend themselves and are entirely at the mercy and whim of identity “thieves”. These films focus on the rare cases where the targeted individual is fully robbed of his identity, falls victim to fraud, and is completely replaced in society by the identity “thief”, thus falsely suggesting this as a standard or prototypical form of identity “theft”. This is understandable, since such a plot is far more interesting and exciting, and it offers more twists and turns, making it more effective on the screen compared with the numerous credit-card frauds and other abuse cases that take place in real life. The bulk of real-life identity “theft” cases cause financial damage but not a complete disruption of the social life of the victims. In reality, people are often unaware of falling victim to fraud with one or two data stolen from them; the anonymous criminals do not strive to completely destroy their victims’ personality and identity but “simply” to make money out of their crime without being seen or shedding blood. Such cases are unsuitable for a good story that stands its ground in Hollywood, and hence are ignored in mainstream films.

Ultimately, the representation of identity “theft” in mass culture is not a technological or legal issue but rather one related to visuality (what can most effectively be presented, what can be sold well) and culture (to what is the audience receptive). Films do not draw so much on technological trends and current situations but rather on primeval stories and fears. Most probably, identity “theft” is a permanent feature in mass culture, since identity and its integrity, preservation and protection from others form an integral part of the human mind and society.

However, with the development of technology, it is becoming increasingly difficult to control certain (electronic) identifiers, and thus the potential for abuse is ever greater. The fact that the average user still does not regard his digital identifiers as parts of his “real identity” leads to an underestimation of the imminence of the threat, resulting in digital parts of identity being protected less than elements of identity that are connected to his physical presence. Digital parts of identity seem to be less integrated into the identity as a whole, often resulting in a lower level of protection.

There is likely to be a connection between the fact that mass media simply ignore the circumstances of identity “theft” in real life and the trend that the majority of users disregards keeping their identity secure. This is precisely because of the link between media and society that media theory shows. Films have an impact on the world-view of citizens and educate them by providing a source of information on the world. Citizens do not recognize their own situation in mainstream films focus on the extreme cases of identity takeover in which the victim is virtually deleted from society. They do not know of such cases from personal knowledge or from the news. Therefore, they will view identity “theft” as fictitious and unrelated to stories they do read about in the news of identity data being abused for financial gain. The one-sided and exotic picture painted in films makes them unaware of the less far-reaching forms of identity-related crime that occur in real life and that are facilitated by weak protection of digital identifiers.

We do not want to suggest that films should focus on how “A” illegally removed 115 dollars from “B”’s account in order to raise users’ awareness of identity “theft”. But, given the fact that media shapes viewers’ world-views, it would be helpful for films to show that when someone switches on a PC, an anti-virus application is run (it could take about 2 extra seconds in the film). Fastening safety belts and the introduction of non-smoking protagonists have been standard elements in films for some time now. However, despite the didactic film language (for example Hollywood) used in certain subjects, the warning against the dangers of identity “theft” will in all likelihood not be represented in a finely chiselled way in the near future, since the awareness surrounding identity “theft” should first be raised, also in Hollywood. With this, we have come full circle.

Perhaps, the situation is not as “hopeless” as it might seem in the mediation of mass culture, since most of the cases sketched in films cannot be executed in real life and are merely exciting and exaggerated versions of extreme cases. Still, those trying to form a picture about this issue only from films will most certainly end up with false impressions and remove the issue of identity-related crime into the realm of fiction and urban legends. The bias of films to focus on extreme and unrealistic cases therefore poses a risk that currently existing technological trends in identity-related crime and legal, organisational, and technical countermeasures are underdeveloped in citizens’ world views. Given the importance of awareness-raising to combat identity-related crime, it is vital that actions are taken to adjust the picture of identity-related crime, in particular identity “theft”, as it is sketched in the media at large.

Film producers could contribute to this by showing standard data-security measures, such as a virus check, as part of everyday life, but films are not likely in future to sketch a substantially different picture of identity “theft”, given the primeval appeal of extreme identity takeover as a theme in visual media. The required adjustment of the picture of identity-related crime will therefore have to rely on other mass-media, such as non-fiction literature, documentaries, the press, and blogs.

Appendix

Identity “theft” and other identity-related crimes – a further selection of relevant worldwidely released films (in chronological order).

Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)

Directed by Alexander Hall Cast: Robert Montgomery - Joe Pendleton/Bruce Farnsworth/Ralph 'KO' Murdoch, Evelyn Keyes - Bette Logan, Claude Rains - Mr. Jordan, Rita Johnson - Julia Farnsworth

Boxer Joe Pendleton, flying to his next fight, crashes because a Heavenly Messenger, Mr. Jordan, new on the job, snatched Joe's spirit prematurely from his body. Before the matter can be rectified, Joe's body is cremated; so the celestial Mr. Jordan grants him the use of the body of wealthy Bruce Farnsworth, who's just been murdered by his wife. Joe tries to remake Farnsworth's unworthy life in his own clean-cut image, but then falls in love; and what about that murderous wife?

La Otra (1946)

Directed by Roberto Gavaldón. Cast: Dolores del Rio - Magdalena Méndez/María Méndez, Agustín Irusta - Roberto Gonzalez, Víctor Junco - Fernando, José Baviera - Licensiado de la Fuente, Manuel Dondé - Agente Vilar, Conchita Carracedo - Carmela, Carlos Villarías - Lic. Felix Mendoza, Rafael Icardo - Juez.

Manicurist Maria Mendez encounters her twin, Magdalena DeLago (Delores Del Rio in a dual role), at the funeral of Magdalena's wealthy husband. The two sisters have been estranged ever since Magdalena tricked Maria's sweetheart into marrying her years before. At Magdalena's mansion Maria is in awe of her twin's wealthy lifestyle and her long pent-up bitterness comes out. The fact that it all could have been hers makes her own life seem worthless even though her detective boyfriend Roberto (Augustin Irusta) loves her and wants to marry her. On Christmas Eve Maria lures her sister to her apartment and murders her. A suicide note makes it look like "Maria" shot herself and she assumes Magdalena's identity. Maria must think quickly, however, to surmount the obstacles that arise from her impersonation because Magdalena had a few dark secrets of her own. She has no choice but to play along with Magdalena's lounge-lizard lover, Fernando (Victor Junco), who helped Magdalena murder her husband. Fernando realizes she's an impostor and blackmails her but eventually confesses to authorities and there's poetic justice as the scheme to take over her sister's life comes crashing down. Maria finds out too late that you should beware of what you want...

The 3rd Voice (1960)

Directed by Hubert Cornfield Cast: Edmond O'Brien - The Voice, Julie London - Corey Scott, Laraine Day - Marian Forbes

Marion Forbes is the secretary, the lover and the creator of the financial fortunes of Harry Chapman, but Chapman falls in love with Francis and decides to marry her. The revenge of Marion is terrible. With the help of the third voice she kills Harry who is then impersonated by the third voice. All of this to steal $600,000.

Seconds (1966)

Directed by John Frankenheimer Cast: Rock Hudson - Antiochus 'Tony' Wilson, Salome Jens - Nora Marcus, John Randolph - Arthur Hamilton

There is a very secret organization that offers wealthy people a second chance at life; the customer picks out someone they want to be and the organization surgically alters the customer to look like the intended person, stages the customer's death, gets rid of the intended person and the customer has a new life. There's only one thing they didn't count on…

"Blindpassasjer" (1978) (mini)

Directed by Stein-Roger Bull Cast: Bjørn Floberg - Akeron, Ola B. Johannessen - Jason, Trini Lund - Elis, Henny Moan - Leda, Ole-Jørgen Nilsen - Byråkraten, Marit Østbye - Gaia

The spaceship Marco Polo is returning from a mission at the newly discovered planet Rossum. While the five members of the crew are in deep sleep a mysterious shape is captured on one of the surveillance monitors. Awakened the crew soon discover that one of their number has been killed, and something is living among them in the shape of a crewmate. But who is it?

The Prince and the Pauper (1990)

Directed by George Scribner Cast: Wayne Allwine - Mickey Mouse/Prince Mickey (voice), Bill Farmer - Goofy/Horace/Weasel #1/Pluto (voice), Arthur Burghardt - Captain Pete (voice)

Long ago in a land with an ailing king, there was a pair of boys who looked exactly alike, a pauper called Mickey and the other, the Crown Prince. Mickey dreamed of plenty and an easy life as Royalty and the Prince dreamed of the freedom as a subject. Happenstance throws them together and their mutual resemblance inspires the pair to switch identities to see how the other lives. To their surprise, Mickey learns of the duties and responsibilities of royalty while the Prince learns to his horror that the Royal Captain of the Guard has taken advantage of the existing power vacuum to inflict brutal tyranny on the subjects. Now the Prince must react to this evil, unaware that the Captain knows about the identity swap and is using it to his own advantage while dominating Mickey who plays the Heir to the Throne.

Switch (1991)

Directed by Blake Edwards Cast: Ellen Barkin - Amanda Brooks, Jimmy Smits - Walter Stone, JoBeth Williams - Margo Brofman, Lorraine Bracco - Sheila Faxton, Tony Roberts - Arnold Freidkin, Perry King - Steve Brooks, Bruce Payne - The Devil (as Bruce Martyn Payne), Lysette Anthony – Liz, Victoria Mahoney – Felicia, Basil Hoffman – Higgins, Catherine Keener - Steve's Secretary, Kevin Kilner - Dan Jones, David Wohl - Attorney Caldwell, James Harper - Lieutenant Laster, John Lafayette - Sergeant Phillips

Steve Brooks is a sexist and the prototype macho. Unfortunately one day he is killed by one of his girlfriends. In heaven, though, there is no place for men like him and he is sent back to earth in the body of a woman so that he can see how women are treated by men like the one he once was.

Deceived (1991)

Directed by Damian Harris Cast: Goldie Hawn - Adrienne Saunders, Damon Redfern - Maitre D', John Heard - Jack Saunders, Charles Kassatly - Waiter, Robin Bartlett - Charlotte, Ashley Peldon - Mary Saunders, Beatrice Straight - Adrienne's Mother, George R. Robertson - Adrienne's Father, Maia Filar - Carol Gingold, Tom Irwin - Harvey, Jan Rubes - Tomasz, Anais Granofsky - Ellen, Heidi von Palleske - Mrs. Peabody, Stanley Anderson - Det. Kinsella, Peter Stevens - Ron

A marriage that seemed perfect comes crashing down after the supposed death of Jack Saunders, husband of Adrienne Saunders. After his supposed death, strange developments begin to be discovered by Adrienne regarding Jack's past. Developments that lead her to believe she has been Deceived.

Face of Evil (1996)

Directed by Mary Lambert Cast: Tracey Gold - Darcy Palmer/Barbara Richards, Perry King - Russell Polk, Shawnee Smith - Jeanelle Polk, Don Harvey - Quinn Harris, Brigitta Dau - Sabrina, Simi Mehta - Zoe, Nicole Prescott - Marnie

Darcy Palmer is a young unsuccessful painter. After killing a student, Brianne Dwyer, she takes her identity and enters an arts college. She soon gets to know the father of her room-mate, who, seduced by Darcy's beauty introduces her to the world of art collections. But the truth is soon discovered: Darcy has already killed more than one girl taking their identity - even Darcy might not be her real name...

Dead Silence (1997)

Directed by Daniel Petrie Jr. Cast: James Garner - John Potter, Kim Coates - Theodore 'Ted' Handy, Marlee Matlin - Melanie Charrol, Lolita Davidovich - Det. Sharon Foster, Charles Martin Smith - Roland W. Marks

Three escaped convicts from prison take a group of deaf students hostage and hold them captive to keep the authorities at bay. FBI agent John Potter (James Garner) leads the FBIs hostage rescue team in their efforts to get the kids released without harm and also to capture the escapees. Potter's handling of the situation is interfered with by New York State Assistant Attorney General Roland W. Marks, as Potter enlists the help of Sharon Foster, the negotiator who talked Ted into surrendering in the hostage situation that got Ted put in prison. But Sharon is not who she says she is, and Potter must take it upon himself to rescue the hostages.

Meschugge (1998)

Directed by Dani Levy Cast: Maria Schrader - Lena Katz, Dani Levy - David Fish, David Strathairn - Charles Kaminski, Nicole Heesters - Lena's Mother

Lena Katz, who is German, and David Fish, who is American, are Jews who live in New York. When Lena's mother, who arrives from Germany, meets her at a hotel, she finds an almost-dead woman lying on the hotel floor. She accompanies the injured woman to the hospital and meets David, who is the woman's son. After David's mother dies from the injuries, a question remains: was she murdered? The trail leads to Germany. Apparently, Lena's mother has some kind of relationship with David's mother that reaches back into the dark German history of the 1940s.

The Imperiled Princess (2000)

Directed by Jon Woods Cast: Goldie Blair - Second Bodyguard, Misty Grayson - Government Official, Andrea Neal - First Bodyguard, Cleo Nicole - Enemy Agent (as Cleo Nichole), Toni - Princess (as Dorian Grant)

A buxom, raven-haired princess falls in love with an American soldier and determines to return to the United States when the G.I.'s tour is up. She leaves her startled bodyguard bound and gagged and flies to America, pursued by an enemy agent with a nefarious scheme. The agent captures a State Department official and assumes her identity, then proceeds with her plan to kidnap the princess. Unfortunately for the comely agent and her captive victim, there are more powerful villains lurking about who would love to spirit too lovely ladies away for parts unknown.

Xchange (2000)

Directed by Allan Moyle Cast: Stephen Baldwin - Clone #1/Toffler 3, Pascale Bussières - Madeleine Renard, Kim Coates - Toffler/Fisk 2, Kyle MacLachlan - Fisk/Toffler 2 (as Kyle Maclachlan)

In the near future, a company called Xchange owns a mind transference technology that enables instantaneous travel by swapping bodies with someone at the destination. A member of the privileged corporate class ("Corpie") Xchanging for the first time unwittingly switches bodies with a terrorist. Forced to hide in a limited life span cloned body with just 2 days remaining, he races against time to stop the terrorist and regain his body.

Femme Fatale (2002)

Directed by Brian De Palma Cast: Rebecca Romijn - Laure Ash/Lily (as Rebecca Romijn-Stamos), Antonio Banderas - Nicolas Bardo, Peter Coyote - Bruce Watts, Eriq Ebouaney - Black Tie

International con artist/thief Laure Ash helps pull off a diamond robbery in Cannes during the annual film festival. She double-crosses her partners-in-crime and makes off with the diamonds to Paris where she accidentally assumes the identity of a distraught woman who commits suicide and then leaves the country. Seven years later, Laure (now called Lily Watts) re-surfaces as the wife of the new American ambassador to France where a certain Nicolas Barto, a Spanish photographer, takes her picture which sets the stage for a motion of events as the evil Laure resorts to low, underhanded means to protect her former identity by emotionally and financially destroying Nicolas while evading her former partners-in-crime still looking for her to reclaim the stolen diamonds.

Die Another Day (2002)

Directed by Lee Tamahori Cast: Pierce Brosnan - James Bond, Halle Berry - Jinx, Toby Stephens - Gustav Graves, Rosamund Pike - Miranda Frost

The story begins in the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea with a spectacular high-speed hovercraft chase and continues via Hong Kong to Cuba and London where Bond meets up with the two ladies who are to play such important and differing roles in his quest to unmask a traitor and to prevent a war of catastrophic consequence. Hot on the trail of the principle villains, Bond travels to Iceland where he experiences at first hand the power of an amazing new weapon before a dramatic confrontation with his main adversary back in Korea where it all started...

National Lampoon Presents Dorm Daze (2003)

Directed by David Hillenbrand and Scott Hillenbrand Cast: Tatyana Ali - Claire, Boti Bliss - Dominique the Hooker, Gable Carr - Rachel, Patrick Cavanaugh - Pete, James DeBello - Cliff, Marieh Delfino - Gerri, Tony Denman - Newmar, Danielle Fishel - Marla

Dorm Daze unfolds during a crazy afternoon at a university co-ed dormitory in the days before Christmas break when one of the students, Styles McFee (Patrick Renna), hires a prostitute named Dominique (Boti Bliss) for his unwitting brother, Booker (Chris Owen), to lose his virginity. But Booker prefers to loose his virginity to his long-term sweetheart Rachel (Gable Carr) just down the hall. Meanwhile, another student, named Wang (Paul H. Kim), awaits the arrival of a French foreign exchange student, who speaks little English, also named Dominique (Marie Nicolle Marquis). Farcical wackiness ensues as a series of mistaken identities and mishaps escalate into monumental proportions starting when Wang leaves for work, Dominique the Student arrives and is mistaken for the prostitute by Styles, while Dominique the Hooker is mistaken for the student by others including the two dorm gossip queens Lynn (Jennifer Lyons) and Marla (Danielle Fischel). Other characters involve Adrienne (Cameron Richardson), who is targeted by the dorm geek, Newmar (Tony Denman), with whom they had a drunken fling the night before. Adrienne tries to find a missing handbag belonging to her friend, Claire (Tatyana Ali), who is having boyfriend troubles with Tony (Edwin Hodge). Adrienne's roommate, Gerri (Mariah Delfino), inadvertently gets her hands on another handbag similar looking to Claire's which is filled with $30,000 in cash. Gerri is soon mistaken for a shadowy hitwoman, named Britany the Snake, by a local gangster named Lorenzo (Courtney Gains). Elsewhere, Pete's (Patrick Cavanaugh) punk friend Cliff (Jamed DeBello) enters the dorm when Pete has to go to work. Cliff soon teams up with Dominique the Hooker to find the missing handbag with the cash while the token gay student Foosball (Randy Spelling) works his way through all the plots of this collegiate comedy of Shakespearean proportions.

Taking Lives (2004)

Directed by D.J. Caruso Cast: Angelina Jolie - Illeana, Ethan Hawke - Costa, Kiefer Sutherland - Hart, Gena Rowlands - Mrs. Asher, Olivier Martinez - Paquette, Tchéky Karyo - Leclair, Jean-Hugues Anglade - Duval

A successful FBI profiler, Illeana Scott (Jolie), is summoned to help out Canadian law enforcement in Montreal, to hunt down a serial killer who assumes the lives and identities (hence the title) of the people he kills as he travels across North America, which forces Illeana to adjust to working in a strange city with a police team with which she doesn't really fit in.

Wicker Park (2004)

Directed by Paul McGuigan Cast: Josh Hartnett - Matthew, Rose Byrne - Alex, Matthew Lillard - Luke, Diane Kruger - Lisa, Christopher Cousins - Daniel

Investment Banker Matthew, a young advertising executive in Chicago, puts his life and a business trip to China on hold when he thinks he sees Lisa, the love of his life who walked out on him without a word two years earlier, walking out of a restaurant one day. With a little help from his friend Luke, Matthew obsessively and relentlessly tracks Lisa down and while doing so, runs into another young woman, calling herself Lisa whom, unknown to Matthew, is an actress named Alex and may hold the key to Lisa's disappearance, and discovery.

Ronald Leenes (ed.), FIDIS deliverable 5.2b ID-related Crime: Towards a Common Ground for Interdisciplinary Research, May 2006, p. 50-57, available at http://www.fidis.net/fileadmin/fidis/deliverables/fidis-wp5-del5.2b.ID-related_crime.pdf as quoted by

Bert-Jaap Koops, Ronald Leenes: ‘ID Theft, ID Fraud and/or ID-related Crime, Definitions matter’, in: DuD • Datenschutz und Datensicherheit 2006 (9), pp. 553-556.

Koops & Leenes 2006, see note .

Ibid.

George Gerbner: Towards ‘Cultural Indicators’: The Analysis of Mass Mediated Message Systems. In: AV Communication Review 17, 1969.

Jay G. Blumler, Elihu Katz (eds.): The Uses of Mass Communications: Current Perspectives on Gratification Research, Beverly Hills: Sage, 1974.

Maxwell McComb, Donald Shaw: A Progress Report on Agenda-Setting Research. In: Association for Education in Journalism, Theory and Methodology Division. Presentation, San Diego (Calif.) April 18, 1974.

Byron Reeves, Clifford Nass: The Media Equation: How People Treat Computers, Televisions, and New Media Like Real People and Places, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1996.

Aron Gurevich: Medieval Popular Culture: Problems of Belief and Perception (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1990).

It is indisputable that the caste system in India is in fact the strongest example of social hierarchy sanctified by religion, but it should be realized that religion has played an important role in the wide-ranging acceptance of societal hierarchy in other societies too.

Mikhail Bakhtin: Rabelais and His World (Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1993 (originally published in Russian in 1965)).

The descriptions are derived from the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), see http://www.imdb.com/. Further in-depth research of identity change in films would require a more detailed analysis of these films.

For a further collection of relevant films, see the Appendix.

„The distinction between characters' actions and what the narrator tells, is the distinction which Russian Formalists have noted between the 'fabula' (events as they would have unfolded in some world), and 'suzhet' (the same events, rearranged for telling).” In: Masoud Yazdani: ROALD - A Framework for Story Writing (http://www.intellectbooks.com/masoud/author/story/story-3.htm).

Propp’s narrative analysis of folk tales and their morphology can be helpful in film analysis as well. See Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp: Morphology of the Folktale (Austin, London: University of Texas Press, 1968).

ID Analytics: “NATIONAL FRAUD RING ANALYSIS”, In: idanalytics.com, 2005. URL: http://www.idanalytics.com/pdf/National_Fraud_Ring_Analysis_Overview.pdf (04.11.2005).

Cf., Leenes 2006, FIDIS deliverable 5.2b, see note .

Aaron Parsley: Imposter of Paris, In: Teen People, 8. August 2005

http://www.teenpeople.com/teenpeople/article/0,22196,1091027,00.shtml (03 September 2006).

Personally identifying and personally identifiable information (PII) used for authenticating customers and clients of online merchants and banks with online banking services make up the primary target of identity “thieves”.

“AOL/NCSA Online Safety Study”, In: safetyonline.com, 2005. URL: http://www.staysafeonline.info/pdf/safety_study_2005.pdf (15.12.2005).

Jay Lyman: “AOL Reports Imperiled User Security”, In: eCommertimes.com, 2005. URL: http://www.ecommercetimes.com/rsstory/47749.html (08.12.2005).

Gregg Keizer: “Study: Cyberattacks Initiated by Professional Criminals”, In: Bank Systems & Technolgy, 2005 URL: http://banktech.com/news/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=FBHTMXA0LLYZUQSNDBCSKHSCJUMEKJVN?articleID=159401362 (10.03.2005).

CNET Staff: “Cybercrime yields more cash than drugs”, In: News.com, 2005. URL: http://news.com.com/Cybercrime+yields+more+cash+than+drugs/2100-7348_3-5973918.html (28.11.2005).

FTC: “FTC Releases Survey of Identity Theft in U.S. 27.3 Million Victims in Past 5 Years, Billions in Losses for Businesses and Consumers”, In: FTC.gov, 2003. URL: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2003/09/idtheft.htm (03.09.2003)

ID Analytics: “THE NATIONAL DATA BREACH ANALYSIS”, 2005. URL: http://www.idanalytics.com/pdf/Breach_Analysis_Overview.pdf (04.11.2005)

The difference between figures of the number of data security misuses and the number of stolen data is economic. In the case of 1 million stolen personal identities it would take 1 person 50 years to misuse all the data, if we calculate with 5 seconds per misuse (taking the example of filling in a loan application). If, to save time, the job is outsourced at 10 dollars per item, the total cost is 830,000 dollars.

ID Analytics: ID Analytics’ First-Ever National Data Breach Analysis Shows the Rate of Misuse of Breached Identities May be Lower than Anticipated, 2005. URL: http://www.idanalytics.com/news_and_events/20051208.htm (08.12.2005)

See Leenes 2006, FIDIS deliverable 5.2b, note .

The descriptions are again taken from the Internet Movie Database (http://www.imdb.com).

FIDIS Future of Identity in the Information Society (No. 507512)	c

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Identity-related crime in films

Róbert Pintér (ed.)

2007-02-26T12:03:00