Identity theft happens when someone uses your personal information to commit fraud or impersonate you. Identity theft is typically the first part of a more complex fraud. What comes next is a scam (most often, financial scams and romance scams) to other people’s expenses.
Identity theft leaves the victim with a lot of liabilities and clean up to do. From mortgages and loans in your name, to criminal charges for offenses you never committed, regaining control of your life and finances can be a painful, costly, and lengthy process.
How it typically happens
- Scammers typically gain access to one’s identity through data breaches or phishing
- Stolen documents or credentials are another common source of personal information
- A fraudulent account is typically created with the stolen information
- The account is used for unauthorized transaction or fraud
Red flags
- Unknown accounts or charges
- Alerts from financial institutions
- Missing mail or change account details
What to do
- Contact your bank immediately
- Place fraud alerts or credit freeze
- Change all passwords
- Monitor your accounts continuously.
Useful articles on online scams
- What is an online scam?
- Types of online scams
- Scam victimology: why did they pick me?
- How scammers choose their targets
- Why so many scams go unreported
- Scam cases that made the news
- AI and the next wave of scams
Useful articles on identity theft
- Fake profiles and identity cloning
- Fake IDs: unconvering the inconsistencies
- OnlyFans impersonation and exploitation
- The Equifax data breach
- The TJX data breach
