Identity theft is a term used to describe a situation where a person’s identity, personal or financial information is obtained illegally, and such data obtained is used to perpetrate fraudulent activities such as making transactions which are unauthorized, credit application, and obtaining medical services, these transactions have the capacity to damage the reputation and the credit standing of the victim. The benefit of these attacks to the perpetrators is the financial gain they are made to receive at the expense of the victim.
The details of these victims may be obtained in different forms, some of them may be obtained from sorting through the trash to look for account details listed on receipts, others could also try to access the database of big corporations and gain access to the information which may be used to commit identity fraud and other criminal activities, deceptive emails and other means of hacking could also be used to gain entrance into a person’s financials.
Types of Identity Theft
Identity theft may be carried out for different specific reasons all of which can be categorized as being for economic benefit. These different specific reasons have produced the different types of identity theft some of which are listed below:
- Financial Identity Theft: this is the situation where the victim’s identity is stolen so that it could be used to obtain credit transactions, make purchases, etc.
- Social security Identity Theft: This is the kind of theft that gives the criminal access to apply for credit card using the identity of the victim, they may also use the identity to apply for loans, obtain certain government benefits without fulfilling the corresponding obligation.
- Medical Identity Theft: the identity stolen in this instance is used to obtain free medical services.
- Synthetic Identity Theft: this is a special kind of theft, because in this situation, the criminal uses stolen identity together with other false information to create a new identity which is then used to create new bank accounts, make fraudulent purchases, make financial transactions such as take loans and financial credits etc.
- Child Identity Theft:In this situation, a criminal makes use of the identity of a child for personal purposes such as looking for jobs, looking for housing etc. This is usually effective, because as a child, there is little or no information on a child’s identity and this could be used without immediate detection.
- Tax identity theft: the victim’s data may be used to file fraudulent tax returns and even obtain a refund.
- Criminal Identity Theft: This situation is used by criminals to hide from warrants and arrests, or to escape a conviction record. Thus, they may use a different identity most likely stolen to enable their survival as they escape from justice.
How Does Identity Theft Happen?
There are many ways criminals can obtain the identity of an individual and use such identity for fraudulent and criminal purposes, it is important to know these methods so as to avoid being a victim of identity theft.
- When in a public place, the act of making transactions online without watching the immediate environment may not be beneficial because some of these criminals engage in shoulder surfing where they try to read a person’s transaction details. It is even a worse action to call out your card details while in a public place.
- When a transaction is made and receipts are given with details of the card on them, it is important to tear up those receipts because criminals might sort through those receipts for their benefit and use the details for their fraudulent purposes.
- Spam messages are also another means through which the data and personal information of persons are gotten. Through this means the devices of the victim may be hacked and huge data could be obtained to the detriment of the victim.
Tips on Preventing Identity Theft
- Check your bank statements and transactions notifications thoroughly
- Do not be in a hurry to send your bank details over the phone
- Endeavour to inform your bank or your credit card agency of any suspicious transaction
- Destroy documents that contain details of your banking transactions
- Only provide information about your Social security number when it is extremely important
- Utilize the security provisions on your mobile phone
- Use strong firewalls and efficient anti-virus softwares
- Make use of passwords that are not easy to decode and frequently change passwords in the case of any suspicious activities
- Keep personal data and information in unreachable safe places
- Report the identity theft to the FTC
- Where there are delays in sending financial statements, reach out to the sender.
Recovering From Identity Theft
When a person becomes a victim of identity theft, the immediate reaction is what matters next, delays may mean more victimization, therefore it is important to act fast by taking the following steps:
- Ensure to reach out to the business where the criminal made use of the stolen identity and inform them of the situation, if possible close up all accounts with them temporarily.
- Make a report to the local police immediately
- Make a report to the credit reporting bureaus and ensure that the security on your account is increased to ensure that proper verification of your identity be done before making any further transactions. The three major credit reporting bureaus are: TransUnion, Equifax and Experian.
- You may wish to initiate a credit freeze which is more effective than a fraud alert and increases the security associated with your account a little higher, it makes sure that your credit cannot be used to open further accounts, this would not remove from your responsibility to monitor new accounts.
- You may also choose to set up a credit monitoring account.
- Make a change to your password, ensure it is peculiar to you and no one should be informed of it.
To report a case of identity theft, the victim may reach out to the Federal Trade Commission by phone on 1-877-438-4338 or by visiting their website. Where the victim knows the thief, or the name of the victim was given to the police by any means, or a police report is required, the victim may report immediately to the local police.