Identity Theft

Identity theft can be categorized as a serious form of crime, especially because it involves assuming a false identity to dupe unsuspecting victims. Identity theft is gradually rising as one of the most prevalent forms of crime that is being committed in this age. What makes this form of crime unique and somewhat more intimidating than others is the fact that a stranger can get unhindered access to all your personal information and even your personal resources. He or she may use it for some personal advantage, which may result in compromising your social stature and reputation; or it might be that you will end up in some kind of financial or legal crisis as a result- there are thousands of horrific consequences, all of them equally disturbing. Thus, it is imperative that one’s personal documents, papers and every other piece of information be kept safe and secure. There are certain basic steps that can be taken to ensure that you are properly protected against identity theft, all of which basically aim to raise the general awareness regarding the issue. Some of the basic motives of identity theft are -

1. Impersonation – Not every case of identity theft has a motive of financial exploitation behind it. There are several cases where the crime is inspired by some notion of personal gain, or even of vendetta against past deeds. Other motives may include gaining personal advantages such as medical insurances or special favors from the victim’s resources.
2. Social Security Theft – The social security number serves as the principal form of social identity in several countries like the United States. It finds usage in taxation purposes, for obtaining official documents and for employment purposes. In case someone’s social security number is stolen, criminals can obtain false documents on the basis of the stolen security number, get employed illegally and evade proper taxations.
3. Theft of Medical Identity – The main reason behind this type of identity theft is to get free medical and insurance benefits. Miscreants steal details of medical insurances, and end up with a lot of benefits that they do not have to pay for. In several cases, the very agents who are dealing with medical insurances as representatives of common people end up as perpetrators of medical identity theft.
4. Theft of Driving License – Driving licenses have been traditionally accepted as one of the important forms of identification. In case someone steals your driving license, the criminal gains a good chance of using your ID to authorize financial transactions for his or her own benefit. There are a number of cases when driving licenses can act as appropriate identity checks for cashing checks. Similarly, criminals using your driving license for rash driving can attract undue penalties under your name and thus, leave a black mark against your legal records.
5. Theft of credit documents – Criminals may target your personal documents so that they may gain an insight into the personal details of your credit documents. With that, they can charge your credit card with their own expenditure and you end up with a huge credit bill statement.