Identity theft is a form of fraud or cheating of another person’s identity in which someone pretends to be someone else by assuming that person’s identity, typically in order to access resources or obtain credit and other benefits in that person’s name. No one is immune from this, it can happen to anyone, you can do everything right and it can still happen to you. Technology today has made very easy for predators to get their hands on your information. So it’s best to prepare for these types of situations and find out what you can do to minimize the damage.
When someone uses fraud to assume someone else’s identity it’s rare that it’s going to leave the victim in a positive light. In most cases the reason the person is using your identity is for wrong doing and this can lead to trouble for the victim. There are many categories of identity theft, but I am going to talk about three which are Criminal, Financial, and child identity theft. The first form identity theft that I’m going to talk about is Criminal identity theft. Is when a criminal is caught doing wrong and they give a fake name to the policeman to conceal their identity.
When they do this they have most likely already made fake identification cards. The victim is usually charged with a crime that they did not do. Criminal can also rack up traffic tickets in someone else’s name which leads to the victim’s drivers licenses being suspended. Victims might only learn of such incidents by chance, for example by receiving court summons, discovering their drivers licenses are suspended when stopped for minor traffic violations, or through background checks performed for employment purposes.
It can be difficult for the victim of a criminal identity theft to clear their record. The steps required to clear the victim’s incorrect criminal record depend on what jurisdiction the crime occurred in and whether the true identity of the criminal can be determined. The victim might need to locate the original arresting officers and prove their own identity by some reliable means such as fingerprinting or DNA fingerprinting, and may need to go to a court hearing to be cleared of the charges. Obtaining an expungement of court records may also be required.
Another form of Identity theft is financial identity theft. This is a big one, no one wants someone else running up their credit or stealing their money. But it is happening all over the world. And the internet makes it so easy for hackers to hack into businesses database and steal your information. This has happened to me twice at my bank someone got a hold of my debit card information in another state and racked up charges and my bank caught it and called me. Thanks to my bank we were able to cancel the card before they left my bank acct empty and I was reimbursed for the charges.
This is not the happy ending you will get all the time. I have seen where a person used a application for a home loan ( which asked you for your every piece of information about your life as you can imagine) , and was able to get the victims drivers license, card numbers, social security #, address and basically every piece of information they could use to take over the victims life. The criminal got a fake id and had someone make fake credit cards with the victim’s credit card information and they went on a shopping spree, and even bought a car, and a house.
The victim didn’t know until all the damage was done and the police was no help at all. She had just bought a new home and all her credit cards were maxed out. She had an automobile lender harassing her about a car she did not purchase and another mortgage she couldn’t afford on a teacher’s salary. This person even when to jail under the victims name and got off on bail and didn’t show up for court, so there was a warrant out and the victim was coming from a trip and got arrested at the air port.
Identity theft can take a huge toll on your life and it is so hard to prove to a lender it was not you that made the charges. The only thing you can do is keep track of your credit report and have a plan ready to minimize the damages. The last form of identity theft is child identity theft. This type theft occurs when someone uses a minor child identity for personal gain. The sad thing about this category is that majority of the time it’s a family member that does this and the child has no knowledge or how it will affect their future.
Children don’t find out about this until they are old enough to try to get credit for themselves. This practice is very common and studies show it is growing rapidly. The largest study on child identity theft, as reported by Richard Power of the Carnegie Mellon Cylab with data supplied by AllClear ID, found that of 40,000 children 10. 2% were victims of identity theft. As you can see identity is a very big deal. And it can affect your life in a very huge way. Especially since it involves your well being as a person to live your life the way you want, instead someone takes all that away from you.
And you’re stuck trying to prove who you are and what you didn’t purchase to get that right back. I don’t feel no one should have to go through identity theft. No one should have the right to take away your good record and you not have control to do anything about it. There is no way of know that someone has stolen your identity until the damage is done, the only thing you can do is minimize the damage by taking actions when you find out that it has been stolen. References http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Identity_theft
