Drugs drive identity theft crimes

The Fresno Bee of California has an article on the connection between methampheatmine addiction and identity theft. The connection is interesting, apparently because meth addicts need money for their addictions and are well suited for the intensive search for personal information:

FresnoBee.com: Metro: Drugs drive identity theft crimes

"...Itheyus Murphy, a former meth addict now serving prison time for identity theft, said he spent many sleepless nights injecting meth and using his laptop computer to assume others' identities.

"When I got under the influence of meth, it was all about money," says Murphy, 26, of Fresno. "Get more money.

"With that drug, I would become a sociopath who would sit in front of the computer."

Murphy says meth addicts gravitate to identity theft because it's profitable and nonviolent: "They are more paranoid. They're more [likely] to do things on the creep. They're nonconfrontational. They don't want to do it face-to-face.

"Identity theft is something you can do from a distance. In their mind, they're further away from getting caught."

Murphy also says that he felt like meth made him more creative: "You're just multitasking. On meth, it's easy. It makes you think more thoughts at the same time."..."

A recent ID theft bust in Appalachia also showed a similar connection:

Major bust ties identity theft to methamphetamine - forsythnews.com

"...Adams said many of the credit card numbers were traded by members of the ring in exchange for drugs, mainly methamphetamine.

Said Moss, "This is a new trend we're seeing in the methamphetamine industry now -- they're diversifying."..."