Identity theft

Identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the nation ― especially in the suburbs, Melissa Bean.

Identity theft is a form of stealing someone's identity in which someone pretends to be someone else by obtaining his or her personal or financial information, such as bank account number, credit card information, driver’s license, Social Security number, etc., and assuming that new identity to use it to commit fraud, such as making unauthorized transactions or purchases, obtaining free medical care, or conducting criminal activity (tax evasion, illegal immigration, etc.)

It is a traumatic and difficult experience and their victims are left with bills that they did not incur, damage to their credit, finances, and reputation.

Children and the elderly are particularly vulnerable. Thieves obtain personally identifiable information by many means: hacking computer networks, information leakage, social engineering, brute-force attacking weak passwords, using malware, such as spyware, Trojan horses or keystroke logging programs, etc.

How big is the problem?

33% of citizens in the US and 40% consumers worldwide have experienced identity theft at some point in their lives. Every year, 15 million Americans become victims of identity theft.

The situation looks dark and gloomy. Deepfakes, left unchecked, are set to become the cybercriminals’ next big weapon.

What can you do about it?

• Don’t just rely on your credit card company or bank to alert you of suspicious activity. Monitor your bank and credit card accounts regularly to ensure that no any fraud transactions is happening in your account.
• If you have detected that you are a victim of fraud, notify your bank immediately, review your accounts, put a stop payment order on your checks, request a hold on impacted accounts, close fraudulent new accounts, request a fraud alert on your credit report, fire a police report, follow up your phone calls in writing (send your documents via certified mail with a return receipt), and change all your passwords and PINs.
• Read our articles about Basic Security and Advanced Security.