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What is IDENTITY THEFT
and IDENTITY FRAUD?
The short answer is that identity theft is a crime. Identity
theft and identity fraud are terms used to refer to all types of
crime in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another
person's personal data in some way that involves fraud or
deception, typically for economic gain.
Unlike your fingerprints, which are unique to
you and cannot be given to someone else for their use, your
personal data especially your Social Security number, your bank
account or credit card number, your telephone calling card
number, and other valuable identifying data can be used, if they
fall into the wrong hands, to personally profit at your expense.
In the United States and Canada, for example, many people have
reported that unauthorized persons have taken funds out of their
bank or financial accounts, or, in the worst cases, taken over
their identities altogether, running up vast debts and
committing crimes while using the victim’s names. In many cases,
a victim's losses may include not only out-of-pocket financial
losses, but substantial additional financial costs associated
with trying to restore his reputation in the community and
correcting erroneous information for which the criminal is
responsible.
In one notorious case of identity theft, the
criminal, a convicted felon, not only incurred more than
$100,000 of credit card debt, obtained a federal home loan, and
bought homes, motorcycles, and handguns in the victim's name,
but called his victim to taunt him -- saying that he could
continue to pose as the victim for as long as he wanted because
identity theft was not a federal crime at that time -- before
filing for bankruptcy, also in the victim's name. While the
victim and his wife spent more than four years and more than
$15,000 of their own money to restore their credit and
reputation, the criminal served a brief sentence for making a
false statement to procure a firearm, but made no restitution to
his victim for any of the harm he had caused. This case, and
others like it, prompted Congress in 1998 to create a new
federal offense of identity theft.
How do Thieves commit
Identity Theft?
Many people do not realize how easily criminals can obtain our
personal data without having to break into our homes. In public
places, for example, criminals may engage in "shoulder surfing"
watching you from a nearby location as you punch in your
telephone calling card number or credit card number or listen in
on your conversation if you give your credit-card number over
the telephone to a hotel or rental car company.
Even the area near your home or office may not be secure. Some
criminals engage in "dumpster diving" going through your garbage
cans or a communal dumpster or trash bin -- to obtain copies of
your checks, credit card or bank statements, or other records
that typically bear your name, address, and even your telephone
number. These types of records make it easier for criminals to
get control over accounts in your name and assume your identity.
If you receive applications for "preapproved"
credit cards in the mail, but discard them without tearing up
the enclosed materials, criminals may retrieve them and try to
activate the cards for their use without your knowledge. (Some
credit card companies, when sending credit cards, have adopted
security measures that allow a card recipient to activate the
card only from his or her home telephone number but this is not
yet a universal practice.) Also, if your mail is delivered to a
place where others have ready access to it, criminals may simply
intercept and redirect your mail to another location.
In recent years, the Internet has become an
appealing place for criminals to obtain identifying data, such
as passwords or even banking information. In their haste to
explore the exciting features of the Internet, many people
respond to "spam" unsolicited E-mail that promises them some
benefit but requests identifying data, without realizing that in
many cases, the requester has no intention of keeping his
promise. In some cases, criminals reportedly have used computer
technology to obtain large amounts of personal data.
With enough identifying information about an individual, a
criminal can take over that individual's identity to conduct a
wide range of crimes: for example, false applications for loans
and credit cards, fraudulent withdrawals from bank accounts,
fraudulent use of telephone calling cards, or obtaining other
goods or privileges which the criminal might be denied if he
were to use his real name. If the criminal takes steps to ensure
that bills for the falsely obtained credit cards, or bank
statements showing the unauthorized withdrawals, are sent to an
address other than the victim's, the victim may not become aware
of what is happing until the criminal has already inflicted
substantial damage on the victim's assets, credit, and
reputation.
©2003-2006 National ID Recovery, LLC. All rights reserved.
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