Identity Theft - What is Identity Theft?

Identity theft is a growing problem throughout the world. Although identity theft was a minor concern in the pre-technology era, now that computers are so easily accessible to the general public, identity theft has grown to becoming a tremendous problem.

So, what is identity theft? The Federal Trade Commission defines identity theft as someone who steals your personal information, including your name, for fraudulent purposes. Identity theft can occur in a variety of different ways and depends on the type of information an individual obtains from the victim. Although identity theft can occur with someone simply stealing a name and address or a driver’s license to use when in trouble with the law, the most common forms of identity theft involve stealing someone’s information to use for financial gain.

The unfortunate part about identity theft is that it is often a silent crime where the victim is completely unaware until they are sent a bill from a creditor or when they find the information on their credit report. Identity theft has become a problem of the twenty-first century as more and more people have access to the Internet.

Currently, those involved in prosecuting financial identity theft categorize identity theft in one of two ways, either true name or account takeover. A true name identity thief will take someone’s personal information to open new accounts without the victim’s awareness or consent. These accounts can range from credit cards, checking and savings accounts, or even cellular telephone services. Often times these identity thieves will even be able to obtain a driver’s license, making it even easier to continue obtaining financial sources from the victim.

Those thieves who go the route of account takeover will simply try to gather enough personal information to begin invading someone’s existing accounts. This could mean the thief uses the victim’s current credit card or debit card to make purchases online or at a store, if they can get away with it. Often, if account takeover thieves have come upon account information, they will make a point to change the victim’s account address, so that they can continue running up the credit card without the victim’s awareness.

Both types of identity theft are becoming more and more common throughout the world. Although many potential victims worry that the Internet makes them vulnerable to these types of crimes, many thieves still use the old-fashioned ways of finding information, such as diving through trash or obtaining information just by being close to someone at a department store and viewing the information over their shoulder. For those who use the Internet for banking and credit card information, there are still opportunities for skilled thieves to steal personal information like bank account numbers to social security numbers.

Although identity theft cannot totally be prevented it can be stopped short in its tracks by keeping a close eye on personal information. Regularly check bank accounts, credit card statements, and even have a credit report statement sent to you once a year. New laws are in place that require credit report companies to offer one free statement a year to all. Take advantage of this law and keep track of your identity and your finances.