Identity Theft

Identity Theft

What is Identity Theft?

Identity theft is a fraud. It is an alternate name that is given to old crime which was impersonation. There are different types of identity crime which are prevailing in the society these days.

Personal Identity Theft

It related to the usage of a person's individual identity without taking permission from him or her. Mostly this is done to perform an act which is restricted by law therefore personal identity theft means any use of other's individual identity to support or carryout any act which is unlawful, illegal or restricted in law. It can include obtaining debt, services or product from any other person using any other individual's identity. Personal identity theft can be in the form of using someone else name, contact information like phone number, mobile number, email address, bank account number, passport number, employee identification number, national identity number, mother's maiden name, account passwords, health insurance number, driving license number, credit card number etc. Once this information is accessed it is used by different means for different purpose by the thief (Stana, 2003).

The identity theft relates to take over of complete identity and information is the most severe case. For this the thief access one person's key piece to access all the personal information about his or her life. This can be done through stealing of mother's maiden name or SSN which can be used to get information through a breeder document.

A breeder document i.e. duplicate birth certificate can be obtained through using the stolen mother's maiden name. Then the duplicate birth certificate can be use to obtain SSN, driving license number and these documents can be further use for opening a fraudulent account in a bank. It can also be used for procuring the utilities, applying for a passport, getting service and goods ...