CHRIS HANSEN DELIVERS AN UNPRECEDENTED REPORT ON IDENTITY THEFT IN "TO CATCH AN ID THIEF," A TWO-PART SERIES AIRING ON TUESDAY, MARCH 27 AND TUESDAY, APRIL 3 ON "DATELINE NBC"

NEW YORK � March 26, 2007 � NBC News and Chris Hansen have embarked on the hunt "To Catch an ID Thief," an unprecedented investigation into the massive billion-dollar epidemic of identity theft, which experts say affects millions of Americans a year. Using "Dateline's" signature hidden camera techniques, the report follows the trails of an international identity theft ring, capturing for the first time on network television how the crime works and some of the people that may be behind the process. The two-part series will air Tuesday, March 27 and Tuesday, April 3 on "Dateline NBC" (8:00-9:00 pm, et).

In an effort to put a face behind this worldwide crime, "Dateline NBC" spent more than a year investigating and reporting on this global problem with an organization that specializes in monitoring ID thieves, Card Cops. For the report, Card Cops help NBC News go undercover in an underground chat room where a growing number of identity thieves buy and sell private information, ranging from bank account passwords to credit card account numbers.

For the in-depth, two-hour investigation, viewers see thieves order stolen merchandise for delivery to real addresses across the United States and then, as it does with its "To Catch a Predator" series, "Dateline" turns the tables on the identity thieves when correspondent Chris Hansen follows the trail around the world delivering some of the stolen merchandise in person for a face-to-face confrontation.

David Corvo is the executive producer of "Dateline NBC."