Cases of identity theft have grown at an alarming rate in recent years. The effects of identity theft are far reaching and can take months and even years to correct. It can be difficult to identify the criminal in these kinds of theft situations. Many people think of identity theft only in situations where a social security number has been used to obtain credit cards. While this is one of the ways that a person’s identity can be stolen there are many other kinds of ways that a person can use a stolen identity.
The main goal of identity thieves is to gain purchasing power under someone’s name other than their own. They may use this purchasing power for many different things. Some identity thieves may get phone and other utilities in someone else’s name. Many times the reason for this is because they cannot receive these services in their own name because of high debt or because they already owe the service provider money from a previous service.
Identity thieves can also open a bank account in a person’s name and write bad checks for the account. These thieves have become smarter and smarter in being able to do this. They might get a driver’s license in another person’s name in order to open a new checking account. Identity thieves also find ways to create counterfeit checks someone even with the right name and account number on the checks.
An identity thief might file bankruptcy in your name after incurring a high amount of debt under your name. This can have long-lasting implications as you might not become aware of the bankruptcy until it is too late.
It is important to be aware of all the different ways that identity theft can occur. Awareness will help you to take the necessary actions in the unfortunate event that identity theft happens to you.
Al James has a passion for writing about issues regarding consumer protection. The worldwide web has become massive in size and is available to virtually anyone. It’s important now more than ever to Protect yourself from online identity theft. There are numerous Ways to Prevent Identity Theft if your willing to put forth the effort.
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