Usually, people steal identities for three reasons, said Mari Frank, a California attorney who's written a book on identity theft. Those reasons are to gain financially, to avoid prosecution and to exact revenge, the latter motivation being the least common. If Cox stole Simmons' identity, the apparent motive was to start a new life. Identity theft has soared with the Internet's rise, Frank said. Background search engines that allow identity thieves to get information on just about anyone are scattered across the Web.
Some sites even offer instruction manuals on how to steal someone's identity.
Most identity theft begins with the perpetrator gaining access to the victim's Social Security number, a task that's not as hard today as it was in 1984 when Cox disappeared. Beth Givens, who runs the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a consumer privacy organization, said some identity thieves use these sites. But they more commonly resort to low-tech means, such as sifting through their victim's trash. In December 1998, identity theft became a federal offense punishable by up to 20 years in prison. The first person in the nation prosecuted under that law was a Breckenridge bait shop owner who used an alias to pile up credit card debts and hide from a dishonorable military discharge.