NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED FEDERAL LAWYERS
What is data breach identity theft
|Thanks for visiting Spodek Law Group. We’re a second-generation law firm managed by Todd Spodek, with over 40 years of combined experience handling federal criminal cases. We’ve represented clients in cases that captured national attention – the Anna Delvey case that became a Netflix series, the Ghislaine Maxwell juror misconduct case, cases involving allegations others called unwinnable. If you’re reading this, you’re likely facing questions about data breach identity theft, and you need answers now.
Data breach identity theft – it’s when criminals steal your personal information from a company’s compromised database, then use that information to commit federal crimes in your name. Or you’re accused of being the criminal who exploited breach data to steal someone else’s identity. Either way, the federal government doesn’t care about the nuance until you make them care, and that requires a defense attorney who understands how these prosecutions actually work.
What Data Breach Identity Theft Means Under Federal Law
When hackers breach a company database – medical providers, retailers, financial institutions, government agencies – they’re stealing authentication features. Social Security numbers, birth dates, driver’s license numbers, medical records, employment history. Federal prosecutors charge identity theft under 18 U.S.C. § 1028, which criminalizes fraud involving identification documents and information.
The stolen data gets sold on dark web marketplaces. Someone buys it. They use your Social Security number to file fraudulent tax returns, open credit accounts, obtain medical services, apply for government benefits, commit wire fraud. The federal government investigates – and sometimes the trail leads back to you, the actual victim, because your information was used.
166 million individuals were affected by data breaches in just the first half of 2025. That’s 1,732 data compromises already – an 11% increase from 2024. Every 4.9 seconds, someone in America becomes an identity theft victim. Over 6.4 million reports sent to the FTC in 2024 alone, with losses hitting $12.5 billion.
The volume creates confusion. Federal investigators see patterns – multiple fraudulent transactions using the same stolen credentials – and they build cases based on those patterns. Sometimes they get it wrong, sometimes they charge the victim instead of the perpetrator, sometimes they charge both and let the court sort it out later.
Federal Penalties Are Severe and Often Mandatory
Standard identity theft under 18 U.S.C. § 1028 carries up to 15 years in federal prison. If the offense involves producing or transferring five or more fake IDs, if you obtained $1,000 or more over one year, if it involves drug trafficking or violent crime – the penalties increase. Up to 20 years for second offenses or cases tied to drug crimes, up to 30 years if terrorism is involved.
Aggravated identity theft under 18 U.S.C. § 1028A is worse. Two-year mandatory minimum that runs consecutive to whatever else you’re sentenced for. If it relates to terrorism, five years mandatory. These sentences stack – you can’t serve them concurrently with your other charges, they add on top.
The DOJ treats data breach identity theft as a priority. Recent enforcement in 2025 shows the FTC working alongside federal prosecutors, finalizing orders against companies like GoDaddy for security failures, then pursuing criminal charges against individuals who exploited those failures. More than 1.1 million identity theft reports in 2024 through IdentityTheft.gov – federal investigators use these reports to build cases, to identify patterns, to connect dots between breached data and fraudulent activity.
Mandatory minimums don’t care about your story. Federal judges who responded to a 2010 Sentencing Commission survey – more than half felt the two-year mandatory minimum for aggravated identity theft was appropriate. That was 2010, penalties have only gotten stricter since then, enforcement more aggressive. The First Step Act didn’t touch these mandatory minimums, they’re still fully in effect in 2025.
When Victims Become Defendants
You get a letter from the IRS saying someone filed a return using your Social Security number. Or a criminal complaint appears – charges for wire fraud, bank fraud, false statements to federal agencies. Your information was used, your name on the documents, your SSN on the applications. Federal prosecutors don’t always believe you were the victim, not right away.
Proving you didn’t commit the crime requires showing someone else had access to your breached data, demonstrating you weren’t the one who profited, establishing you were unaware of the fraudulent activity. The government’s case relies on patterns – IP addresses, bank deposits, shipping addresses, phone numbers. If any of those connect to you, even tangentially, you’re explaining coincidences to a jury.
We’ve handled cases where the actual victim spent months under investigation before prosecutors acknowledged the mistake. During those months, bank accounts frozen, reputation destroyed, family relationships strained. The presumption isn’t innocence when your SSN appears on fraudulent documents – the presumption is you’re the criminal until you prove otherwise.
Then there’s the flip side – you’re accused of exploiting breach data to steal identities. Federal investigators traced transactions back to your accounts, your devices, your addresses. Maybe you bought stolen credentials, maybe you were part of a larger scheme, maybe you were the one selling breached data on dark web forums. The charges come with conspiracy counts, wire fraud counts, aggravated identity theft counts that stack penalties.
Defense Strategies That Actually Work
Knowledge and intent – those are the elements prosecutors must prove beyond reasonable doubt. Did you know the identification information was stolen? Did you intend to use it for fraud? In data breach cases, establishing knowledge is harder than it sounds when thousands of people had potential access to the same breached database.
We challenge the government’s timeline. When was the breach discovered, when was the data actually stolen, when did the fraudulent activity begin? If you can show you reported suspicious activity before federal investigators even knew there was a problem, that’s powerful. If you can demonstrate the breached data was publicly available before the alleged crimes, that weakens the government’s case about how you obtained it.
Forensic analysis of your devices and accounts matters – what searches did you conduct, what websites did you visit, what communications exist? If the government claims you bought stolen credentials on a dark web marketplace, there should be evidence of that transaction, evidence of accessing those marketplaces, evidence of cryptocurrency payments or other typical purchase methods. No evidence means their theory is speculation.
Cooperation sometimes makes sense, sometimes destroys your case. If you genuinely were a victim and federal investigators are treating you as a suspect, cooperating early can resolve the matter before charges are filed. If you’re actually guilty and they don’t have strong evidence yet, talking without a lawyer hands them the case they couldn’t build on their own. The difference between those scenarios – that’s why you need experienced counsel before you talk to anyone.
Negotiating with federal prosecutors who understand breach complexity is different from prosecutors who see every case as straightforward fraud. Some Assistant U.S. Attorneys have handled dozens of identity theft cases, they understand how breaches work, how data gets sold and resold, how victims can appear guilty based on circumstantial evidence. Those prosecutors listen to well-constructed defense theories, they’re willing to dismiss charges when the evidence doesn’t support the narrative. Other prosecutors are less flexible, less informed, more focused on their conviction rate than getting the case right.
If You’re Under Investigation Right Now
Federal investigators from the FBI, Secret Service, Postal Inspection Service – they’re building a case before they charge you. They’re reviewing financial records, interviewing witnesses, analyzing digital evidence, coordinating with the FTC and other agencies. By the time they knock on your door or send a target letter, they think they have enough to prosecute.
Don’t talk to them without a lawyer present, don’t answer questions because you think explaining will clear things up, don’t provide your phone or computer because you “have nothing to hide.” The Fifth Amendment exists for a reason – anything you say will be used against you, not to help you. Federal agents are skilled at making conversations feel informal while documenting every word you say for use at trial.
The FTC’s involvement is administrative – they track reports, they issue warnings to companies, they pursue civil enforcement. The DOJ’s involvement is criminal – they file charges, they seek prison time, they use your FTC report as evidence you had notice of suspicious activity and failed to act. These agencies share information, they coordinate enforcement, they build cases together.
Time matters – statutes of limitations, evidence preservation, witness availability. The longer you wait to retain counsel, the harder it becomes to mount an effective defense. We’ve represented defendants in identity theft cases who waited months before hiring an attorney, and by then witnesses had disappeared, digital evidence had been lost, and the government’s narrative had solidified.
At Spodek Law Group, we’ve handled federal cases that others said couldn’t be won. Todd Spodek is a second-generation criminal defense attorney who grew up watching his father practice law, who learned early that the government doesn’t always get it right, who spent years as a trial attorney fighting for clients the system had already written off. We represented Anna Delvey when prosecutors said the case was unwinnable – the Netflix series that resulted shows what aggressive, innovative defense can accomplish.
Data breach identity theft cases require understanding cybersecurity, federal criminal procedure, sentencing guidelines, and how to challenge the government’s evidence in ways that resonate with judges and juries. We’re available 24/7 because federal investigations don’t operate on business hours, because target letters arrive on weekends, because the stress of being under investigation doesn’t pause while you wait for Monday morning.
Your case is unique – your circumstances, the evidence, the charges, the potential defenses. What worked in one identity theft case may not apply to yours, what failed in another case might succeed with different facts. We evaluate each case individually, we develop strategy based on your specific situation, not templates or generic approaches that ignore the nuances that make or break federal criminal trials.