Did you know that around one in five Americans — 22% — have reported being victims of identity theft?
In this digital age, ID theft is not merely a concern but a reality. It happens with such regularity that it makes people’s heads spin. If accused of such a crime, you should contact a criminal defense attorney with experience representing people facing ID theft charges.
When it comes to Hollywood, art often imitates life. Tinseltown, never shy about hopping on the bandwagon and riding the wave of what’s trendy, has plenty of ID theft storylines.
If you’re interested in the dark side of hijacked identity, scams, and cyber manipulation, then these are five of the best flicks that tackle the crime that is ID theft.
- Catch Me If You Can (2002)
While less a movie about online identity theft and more about fraud in general, Catch Me If You Can is a must-view movie. Loosely based on the life of Frank Abagnale Jr., a consummate forger and con artist before the age of 21, this film portrays identity trickery in style. Leonardo DiCaprio plays the slick and smooth-talking Frank Abagnale, and Tom Hanks plays an FBI agent chasing him. The movie is funny, but the message is a serious one. It shows that fraud isn’t new — it just takes different forms.
- Identity Thief (2013)
Identity Thief adds humor to a chivalrous quest. Jason Bateman plays Sandy Patterson, a button-down guy whose life gets turned upside down when Diana (Melissa McCarthy), a brassy, irresponsible identity thief, steals his identity and racks up debt on his dime.
Sandy goes on the hunt to reclaim his good name and travels from the Midwest to Los Angeles to find her. The film milks the lighter side of identity theft, depicting in glorious detail how simple it is to wreak havoc on another’s life — and how difficult it is to undo the damage. More suspense thriller than anything else, the film is an eye-opener.
- The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
The Talented Mr. Ripley takes the identity theft theme to a deeper and darker level. Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) is a ruthless young man growing increasingly interested in the lavish lifestyle of Dickie Greenleaf’s (Jude Law) playboy ways.
What begins as manipulation increasingly degenerates into sheer impersonation, where Ripley masquerades as Dickie. It’s a class, jealousy, and deception psychological thriller. The film gives a scary perspective of how far one will go to live someone else’s life.
- Enemy of the State (1998)
Enemy of the State is technically a spy/government abuse film, but it showcases an interesting portrayal of the control of identity. Will Smith is a lawyer whose entire life comes undone when he accidentally comes into contact with evidence of political assassination. When the government hacks into his personal details, he has his bank account emptied and is branded a criminal.
The film lets us see how vulnerable identities are today when entire power bases access your personal details. It is a thrilling flashback of how easy it becomes to lose control over your life in a globalized world.
- Who Am I: No System is Safe (2014)
This is a German techno-thriller that looks at identity theft in the cybercrime context. Benjamin, a shy computer genius, gets mixed up with an online gang of hackers who are hell-bent on making the world their playground.
As the gang’s actions become progressively more sordid, it competes for territory with other criminal groups and police forces as well. Who Am I is a fashionable, clever, and cringe-inducing exploration of identity in cyberspace, hacker culture, and the ability to destroy and rebuild online personas. Its suspenseful plot will have you glued to your seat, even as it highlights the threat of having one’s identity stolen.
ID theft is not just the stuff of movies — it’s something that happens to millions of people each year. But if you like when art imitates life, check out the five movies mentioned above.