In today’s digital age, where our lives are intertwined with the internet, the threat of identity theft looms large. And the consequences of it can be devastating, ranging from financial loss to a tarnished reputation to criminal charges and more.
Identity theft occurs when someone steals your identity and commits a crime while impersonating you. Criminals might steal your name, social security number, credit card number, or other critical pieces of information. They might also try to steal the credentials you use to access your accounts online.
In an effort to obtain your personal details, criminals could email, text, or call you.
Phishing emails, which look like legitimate messages from trusted entities, try to trick you into revealing sensitive information. These emails often include links to fake websites that request personal data, such as usernames, passwords, and credit card numbers.
Once thieves have your personal information, they can hijack your life. They’ll take over your accounts, move funds, or file for benefits using your name. They might obtain new credit cards in your name, open other accounts in your name, or even rent an apartment in your name. Or they’ll sell your information to other criminals who are skilled at capitalizing on it.
With your personal information in hand, identity thieves can also craft fake identities. They’ll piece together your details from multiple sources and create a persona that closely resembles you.
Their actions might go unnoticed until you review your credit report or bank statement and find ambiguities. You might also get a surprise call from a debt collector, the IRS, or even law enforcement. There is no limit to what a thief can do once they’ve accessed your identity.
In this article, we’re diving deep into the various types of identity theft. By shedding light on the different techniques used by cybercriminals, we hope to arm you with the knowledge you need to stay a step ahead of them.
Examples of identity theft
Identity theft can happen in many different ways. Below we’ve detailed some of the most common examples.
- Financial identity theft: This is the most common form of identity theft, where a criminal gains access to your financial information, which might include your credit card numbers, bank account details, and social security number. With the data in hand, the thief can make unauthorized purchases, drain your bank accounts, or open new credit accounts. You might only realize the crime occurred when you receive an unexpected bill or your credit card is declined.
- Medical identity theft: In this alarming form of identity theft, criminals acquire details about your medical insurance and receive medical treatment, prescriptions, or services in your name. The results can be devastating. You might be faced with a large bill, medical records that are no longer accurate, and improper medical treatments that are based on the content of your false health information.
- Criminal identity theft: This involves criminals using your identity to avoid being caught for their own crimes. They’ll give your identifying information to law enforcement during an arrest or during other interactions with the criminal justice system. You might then be wrongfully accused or face other legal consequences for crimes you didn’t commit.
- Child identity theft: Children are becoming targets of identity theft due to their clean credit histories. Criminals will steal a child’s social security number and other personal information to open fraudulent credit card accounts. Creditors do not typically verify a person’s age. The theft may go unnoticed for years, and so the damage can be extensive and hard to repair.
- Synthetic identity theft: In this scheme, we find criminals using real and fake information to create a new identity. They might pair a stolen social security number with a fabricated name, address, and birthdate to create a seemingly legitimate identity. They then use this synthetic identity to open financial accounts and engage in other fraudulent activities.
- Social media identity theft: In the age of oversharing on social media, criminals can piece together enough information from your online profiles to impersonate you. They may use the information about you that they gather on social media to reset your passwords, access your accounts, or even trick family and friends into revealing private information.
- Tax identity theft: Tax-related identity theft occurs when criminals steal your personal information and use it to file fraudulent tax returns and claim refunds. This can delay any legitimate refund you might be due and cause other significant financial and legal complications.
- Employment identity theft: Employment identity theft occurs when someone takes a job in your name. Criminals will steal your personal information and use it to gain employment, often in jobs where background checks are lax. This can harm your employment prospects and result in tax liabilities and other legal consequences associated with fake employment.
How to prevent identity theft
It’s important to place less faith in your phone’s caller ID. Imposters can rig that system so that their calls appear to be from a legitimate source. Consider installing a call-blocking app on your smartphone or signing up for a call-blocking service from your service provider.
Try to never call back a number that’s left for you or that appears on your caller ID. Instead, research the organization on the web or elsewhere, find its phone number, and call that number back.
Banks, for example, provide customers with customer service numbers when they open their accounts. If you hear from your bank but the call is suspicious, call back the number that you already have for the bank and describe the phone call you received. They’ll access your account and let you know if there’s a legitimate concern.
It’s essential to never give personal information over the phone. Legitimate companies will never contact you and ask for sensitive information like your social security number, passwords, PINs, or your mother’s maiden name. At most, they’ll ask for some details about you IF YOU CONTACT THEM. If someone contacts you and starts asking personal questions, hang up the phone. It’s surely a scam.
If you receive an email or text from any unknown sender, never click the link they’ve sent you. It’s a good habit to not even open the email. Before you open an email or text that you didn’t expect, look closely at the email address for misspellings or slight variations on a legitimate company’s name.
If you’ve opened an email or text and think it might be legitimate, search for the company’s contact information on the web and use it to contact them.
NEVER open an attachment to an email or text from someone you don’t know. Also, be wary of attachments that are forwarded to you. The person who forwarded it might not have scrutinized the attachment and it could contain malware that can harm your devices.
Try as well to limit the information you share online. Criminals are constantly scouring the web for personal information they can use to lure people into providing even more critical information. Also, by sharing the names of pets, birthdays, family members, and others online you’re unknowingly giving scammers leads to what your passwords might be.
Consider setting up multi-factor authentication on your accounts. In this way, your accounts will be more secure because at least two pieces of information will be required from anyone trying to log into them. Thieves who might only have your password will be prevented from gaining access.
Make sure your devices are secure. Keep your computers and smartphones updated with the latest security patches and antivirus software. Also, avoid using public Wi-Fi networks if you’re conducting sensitive transactions because they’re vulnerable to hacking.
Lastly, be sure to regularly review your credit reports for suspicious activity or accounts you didn’t open. Under federal law, you’re entitled to obtain a free copy of your credit report every year from each of the three major credit reporting agencies. You can request your credit reports here.
You might find financial accounts on your report that you didn’t open. You might also find inquiries into your credit from companies you’ve never done business with.
Also, check the amounts of money that are associated with each of your accounts. If those amounts are inflated, it might be a signal of criminal activity.
Check the personal information that appears on your credit report as well. Is your name, social security number, address, and other identifying information accurate? If not, that might be a sign that your credit has been hijacked by someone else.
What to do if you get scammed
If you think you’ve been a victim of identity theft, it’s critical that you contact the credit reporting agencies and either place a fraud alert on your credit or freeze your account altogether. You can also ask that they remove any fraudulent activity that appears on your credit.
You can (and should) report phishing scams to the FBI. The FBI operates a hub for reporting cybercrimes, known as the Internet Crime Complaint Center. You can report scams to them here and remain anonymous if you’d like.
If you clicked on a link in a text or email and think you might have exposed your personal information or device to scammers, you can file a report with the FTC here and they’ll customize a recovery plan for you. If a scammer has contacted you but didn’t obtain your personal information, consider reporting them anyway to the FTC here. Law enforcement refers to the FTC’s database and will bring charges if they notice patterns of abuse.
Immediately change the password on any of your accounts that were exposed to scammers. Also, contact the business where the accounts are held and inform them about the scam. Afterward, monitor your accounts for unauthorized transactions.
You can also contact the consumer protection agency in your state for help. You can find your state agency by searching for it here.
The Department of Justice runs a National Elder Fraud Hotline to help seniors who are victims of financial fraud. You can reach them at 833-FRAUD-11 (833-372-8311).
Finally, consider forwarding unsolicited emails claiming to be from the IRS to phishing@irs.gov. If you received an unsolicited text, take a screenshot of it and attach it in an email to phishing@irs.gov. Remember to delete the original email or text from your device.
In conclusion
Identity theft takes many forms, each with its own unique set of potential consequences. To protect yourself, you need to be hyper-vigilant about sharing personal information, use strong and varied passwords, monitor your financial statements, and promptly report any suspicious activities to the relevant authorities.
As cybercriminals continue to evolve their tactics, staying informed and proactive is your best defense against the threat of identity theft.