The government wants to tackle identity theft by making it a crime to possess someone's financial or personal information without their knowledge, the federal justice minister has told CTV News.

Identity theft currently falls under fraud or impersonation in the Criminal Code.

"The victims of this particular offence or potential offence are most often senior citizens, and for my money it is a type of elder abuse," said Justice Minister Rob Nicholson.

More than 400,000 Canadians fall victim to identity theft each year.

Ottawa resident Barbara Burns had no idea her financial identity had been stolen, until she received a startling phone call from her credit card company.

"The person who was using my credit card number was wanting to buy a $13,000 computer in North Carolina," she said.

In Winnipeg, Felix Gaber had his bank card stolen, essentially giving a criminal free access to his savings.

"The person who stole my wallet used my identity to open up bank accounts and withdraw the limit in bank accounts in my name," he said.

According to Phonebusters, the national anti-fraud call line (1-888-495-8501), the majority of identity theft victims are seniors.

"About 60 per cent of our callers appear to be 60 years old or over," said Det. Const. John Schultz of North Bay, Ont.

He said identity theft comes in many forms and can happen to Canadians at any time. For example, a store clerk can record a customer's bank or credit card information and download the data to a fraudulent card.

Criminals also use illegal card readers at bank machines, which scan the cards of customers as they deposit or withdraw money.

And phone or email scams appearing to be from reputable firms requesting confidential information are common.

"You have people who dumpster dive or jump in the garbage," said Schultz.

"They'll pull out your mail and get your personal identification from that mail."

With a report from CTV's Robert Fife in Ottawa