Identity Theft

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Revision as of 22:06, 30 November 2007 by Todica (Talk)
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Identity Theft - (also known as Identity Fraud) refers to crimes in which personal information is obtained without person’s and used by a criminal or an impostor to commit a fraud or a crime usually for the purpose of economic gain. Some information commonly used by the thieves is: social insurance number (SIN), driver's license, credit card or bank information, birth certificate, passport etc.


Contents

Types

Identity theft is usually divided into two main types based on the uses of stolen information:

  • True Name Identity Theft : Refers to the situation in which stolen personal information is used to open new accounts or obtain services (criminal/thief adopts your identity).
  • Account Takeover Identity Theft : Refers to the situation in which stolen information is used to gain access to existing accounts (criminal/thief uses your personal information).

Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), a California based nonprofit organization working on prevention and understanding of identity theft, actually sub-divides identity theft into four different categories based on information provided by the victims. According to their annual victimization survey report, Identity Theft: The Aftermath 2006, ITRC uses the following four categories:

  • Financial:
  • Criminal:
  • Governmental:
  • Cloning:


Obtaining information

Reduce the risk

What to do if it happens to us ?

See also

External links

References

Personal tools