Do you know what identity theft is? Do you know how is it done online over the internet? Or have you ever been a victim of identity theft? Whatever your answer to these questions is, we are going to give you complete knowledge about it in the article below.
It is a serious crime in which a criminal impersonates himself as some other person for his own benefit. It is usually done for the gain of money or important data or information. If the criminal is successful in getting all the information about you, then he can easily commit crime or fraud under your name.
For cyber thieves, your private details are a treasure box. Your first name, last name, phone number, medical records, and banking information, everything matters to them equally.
Having all your hidden and secret information, he can do a lot of things such as using your ATM and Credit Card to draw money out. He can also request to change the mailing address and the pin code of your cards. They can also sell your information for gaining money worrying least about your personal information that they are leaking.
It can turn out to be quite irritating, getting wrong calls, messages, and emails all day. To get past these situations, this problem seriously needs to be solved.
There have been cases in the past where people have been held captive in police custody because of the crimes they never committed despite the criminals who used their identities that made the police consider them as criminals.
There are different types of identity theft that are trending these days, brutally affecting the lives of innocent people. Following are the different types defined:
Criminal
In criminal identity theft, an individual who commits crime pretends to be someone else during a seizure. This theft is done to avoid revelation of his original name and information for any future or past records.
Financial
This type is usually applied to such circumstances where an individual’s identity or private information is used fraudulently to gain riches, fortunes and whole lots of wealth. It is usually done to make transactions or obtain things using another person’s hard earned money. It is considered as one of the most customary types of identity thefts.
Medical
It is usually done to pretend to be someone else, in order to receive health advantages or free healthcare from the hospital.
Minor
Minor means child identity theft. You’d be surprised to know that a person also uses a minor’s identity to gain personal information when needed. It is commonly used to prevail an accommodation or loans etc.
High-tech
It is a recently trending theft, in which thieves use robotics and machinery. It commonly comprises of hackers. They get entry to public data records by installing malware and hacking other computer networks.
A hacker may install a key logger on your system that registers everything you do on it. It registers all types of passwords entered into the system and reports it to the hacker who gets easy access to your account.
