Answer:
Put simply, ID Theft is a form of fraud. That said, it's not as straightforward as someone stealing your credit card and running down to the electronics store for a stereo. In that case, you can simply cancel your credit card, claim fraud, and life goes on as normal. ID Theft means they not only have your credit card, but they have control over your entire financial entity. They can get credit in your name. They can run your credit into the ground.
Answer:
Identity thieves may use a variety of low- and high-tech methods to gain access to your personally identifying information. They can steal your information by:
- Defrauding businesses or institutions
- Stealing records from your employer
- Bribing an employee who has access to the records
- Conning information out of employees
- Hacking into the organization's computers
- Rummaging through your trash, the trash of businesses, or dumps in a practice known as "dumpster diving"
- Using a method called "pretexting" (on the phone) or "phishing" (over the internet) wherein they pretend to be a business with which you may have had some financial contact, or that they are "performing a survey."They ask for information no legitimate business would ask for: bank account and credit card numbers, about your credit report, investments, savings, Social Security numbers, birthdates, etc.
- Obtaining credit reports by abusing their employer's authorized access to credit reports or by posing as a landlord, employer or someone else who may have a legitimate need for and a legal right to the information.
- Stealing credit and debit card account numbers as your card is processed by using a special information storage device in a practice known as "skimming"
- Stealing wallets and purses containing identification and credit and bank cards
- Stealing mail, including bank and credit card statements, pre-approved credit offers, new checks, or tax information
- Completing a "change of address" form to divert your mail to another location
- Stealing personal information from your home
Answer:
Identity thieves can take over your SSN, drain your checking and savings, make charges to your credit cards, counterfeit checks, transfer your money electronically, open new bank accounts and credit cards, get a drivers license in your name, run up your debt by buying houses, cars, getting loans and mortgage after mortgage, trips to Europe? and then they can declare bankruptcy. Guess who will be held liable.
Answer:
ID Theft is a cancer on society. It is only getting worse, and once it gets you, it is very difficult to get rid of. More and more people are having their identity stolen. Soon, $53 billion (roughly $200 annually for every person in the United States) may seem like a drop in the bucket.
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