What Is Identity
Fraud?
Identity fraud, or identity theft, is a serious
crime in which another person makes fraudulent
purchases under your name and
credit. As well, identity fraud can include the
assumption of your personal information for criminal
purposes. Often, the information needed to do this
includes your Social Security number (SSN), driver's
license number, and credit card numbers.
Identity fraud is divided into four main categories.
These include financial ID theft, criminal ID theft,
ID cloning, and business/commercial ID theft.
Financial ID theft is the most prevalent, involving
the use of your name and SSN to apply for credit
cards, loans, apartments, or car leases and such.
Criminal ID theft is the kind of fraud when the
imposter provides your information to law
enforcement when questioned instead of his own. In
this case, an arrest warrant can be issued for your
arrest without you ever knowing it. ID cloning
happens when the perpetrator uses your information
to establish a whole new life for himself. He can
then live, work, and spend as you. This type of
fraud can be especially hard to repair.
Last, business and commercial identity theft
involves imposters using business accounts to commit
fraud. This is typically discovered when customers
start to complain about being double-billed or when
the business rating score starts to lower
significantly. In-house accounting can usually catch
fraudulent activity, but for larger companies, this
is harder to monitor. |
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