The Criminalisation of Identity Theft under the Saudi Anti-Cybercrime Law 2007

• Author: Suhail Almerdas
• Position: LLB, LLM, PhD Researcher at the Centre for Criminal Justice Studies, School of Law, University of Leeds, UK
• Pages: 80-93

JICLT

Journal of International Commer cial Law and Technology

Vol.9, No.2 (2014)

80

The Criminalisation of Identity Theft under the

Saudi Anti-Cybercrime Law 2007

Suhail Almerdas1

PhD Researcher at the Centre for Criminal Justice Studies,

School of Law

University of Leeds, UK,

lwsia@leeds.ac.uk

Abstract. This article examines the extent to which legal measures enacted in Saudi

Arabia are able to tackle the problem of widespread cybercrime, namely identity theft. It

examines to what extent th e Saudi Anti-Cybercrime Law 2007 is capable of encompassing

possible methods for obtaining the financial information of others, including phishing,

pharming, using malware and hacking, which appear to be the most common methods of

obtaining the personal information of others online. It also questions whether the Saudi

Anti-Cybercrime Law should take action and criminalise identity theft that involves non-

financial motivations in a way similar to the criminalisation of identity theft that does

involve financial motivations, an activity which has already been criminalised under the

Anti-Cybercrime Law. Furthermore, the paper highlights how it is important to criminalise

the transferring and possession of materials (data an d programs) for the purpose of i dentity

theft in order to strengthen the legal response to this type of cybercrime in Saudi Arabia.

1. Introduction

Identity theft is not a new phenomenon. Typically, this activity is committed through physical means,

such as stealing a wallet or going through the rubbish bin of someone to find discarded documents that

contain an individual’s personal information, such as name, date of birth, address, phone number and

credit card information.2 The development of information and communication technologies and the

proliferation of the Internet, however, h ave provided criminals with even more opportunities to acquire

personal and confidential information through various methods, such as phishing, pharming, using

malware and h acking.3 In addition, the Internet extends the reach of cr iminals to a global level. In

cyberspace, as Internet World State shows, appr oximately 2.5 billion people us e the Internet from all of

the world’s regions.4 Certainly, any of th ese people can be targets for identity thieves. After confidential

financial account details are obtained, committing fraud is only a few keystrokes away.5 Various types of

fraud can be committed using the identity-related information of individuals, such as purchasing goods or

registering for services using the victims’ personal information, and transferring money online from the

victims’ accounts to another account.6 Non-financial consequences can also take place. Identify thieves

1 LLB, LLM, PhD Researcher at the Centre for Criminal Justice Studies, School of Law, University of Leeds, UK,

Email: lwsia@leeds.ac.uk; Lecturer in Law, Faculty of Law, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia,

Email: salmrdas@kau.edu.sa.

2 Fujun Lai, Dahui Li and Chang-Tseh Hsieh, ‘Fighting Identity Theft: The Coping Pers pective’ (2012) 52 Decision

Support Systems 353, 354.

3 Marco Gercke, ‘Legal Approaches to Criminalize Identity Theft’ in United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime,

Handbook on Identity-Related Crime (United Nations 2011) 17-18.

4 Internet World State, ‘Internet Usage Statistics’ (30 June 2012) .internetworldstats.com/stats.htm>

accessed 10 May 2013.

5 Samuel C McQuade (ed), Encyclopedia of Cybercrime (Greenwood Press 2009) 75.

6 See International Telecommunication Union, ‘ITU Global Cybersecurity Agenda, High-Level Experts Group,

Global Strategic Report’ (2008) 39