What is Identity Theft

What is Identity Theft?

Identity Theft is a Personal Violation

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) tells us identity fraud and identity theft are often committed to obtain fraudulent financial gain. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received more than 5.88 million fraud reports in 2021, a 19% increase from the year prior. Identity theft is when someone steals another person's personally identifiable information and then uses that personal data fraudulently or deceptively for fraudulent financial gain. Identity theft may also steal your identity to avoid legal or criminal actions against their your own identity. They may also steal your identity to steal benefits or services that belong to someone else.

Learn How to Keep Your Identity Safe

Both individuals and businesses can each be victims of tax identity theft. The tax identity theft of a business can also impact the employees. With the sheer volume of personally identifiable information collected by organizations physically and digitally, it is natural to wonder how to protect yourself from identity theft. Keeping your identity private and protected is becoming increasingly complex, especially when considering all the places your personal information is held and all of the ways an identity thief can steal it. Your odds of identity theft increase every time there is another major data breach.

Unfortunately, our personal information is everywhere. So are fraudsters.

We are all more digitally and physically connected than ever before. Our personally identifiable information is in the hands of virtually anyone with whom we have a relationship, including government agencies, social media sites, merchants, employers, financial institutions, healthcare organizations, and. As technology advances, the digital blueprint of your identity gets more defined, and the malicious threats to your sensitive and personally identifiable information (PII) increase exponentially.

Identity theft is more than just an inconvenience.

Identity theft is emotionally and financially draining. It is a total invasion of your privacy and a tremendous inconvenience. Its effects can rapidly spiral out of control requiring hundreds of hours of your time to resolve. These identity thieves steal your most personal information: your Social Security number, financial and bank account information, and digital footprint.

Identity theft can take many different forms.

There is no limit to identity thieves' methods to make your Personally Identifiable Information (PII) work to their advantage. Below are the most common types of identity theft:

Synthetic Identity Theft. This is when someone uses your Social Security number to create a fake identity.
Financial Identity Theft. This is when a fraudster uses your PII for monetary gain. This may include payment fraud or credit card fraud. They may open new accounts or take over an existing account.
Medical Identity Theft. This is when a fraudster seeks medical treatment or prescription drugs using your identity.
Criminal Identity Theft. | This is when a thief commits other crimes outside of identity theft using someone's stolen identity.
Child Identity Theft. This is when the victim of the identity theft is a child. A child's identity theft may go undetected for years. Often it is not detected until the child is of age to start obtaining their credit.
Tax Identity Theft. This is when a fraudster uses someone else's Social Security number to obtain tax refunds and credits. Your fraudulently obtained Social Security Number may also be used to fill out W2s, file for stolen government benefits, or seek employment.
Social Identity Theft. This is someone uses a person's name and photos to create a fake social media account.
Unemployment Identity Theft. This is when a fraudster files a claim for unemployment using someone else's personal information.
Biometric Identity Theft This is when a person's finger, face, voice, or other physical characteristic is stolen or spoofed to unlock a device.
Mortgage Identity Theft. This is when a thief applies for a loan using your real estate as collateral.
Mail Identity Theft. This is when a fraudster intercepts your mail for the purpose of identity theft, credit card fraud, stealing gift cards, cashing stolen checks, or other financial crimes.
Student Loan Identity Theft. This is when a fraudster uses a child's identity to file for fraudulent student grants, loans, or other fraudulent student financial aid.
Social Security Identity Theft. This is when a thief obtains a Social Security Number to commit identity theft, benefit theft, credit fraud, or seek fraudulent employment.
Driver's License Identity Theft. This is when a fraudster uses someone else's driver's license to avoid a personal traffic citation, gain access to an account as a form of identification, or it is used to misrepresent their fraudster's identity.
Senior Identity Theft. This is when the victim of identity theft is a senior citizen. Seniors citizens are the fastest-growing population of victims. Due to the lower use volume, their identity theft can often go undetected for years.

There is no doubt your social security number is at risk.

Identity theft can happen anywhere, anytime, and to anyone. Everyone is at risk, especially children under 18 years old. The risk of identity theft increases as you get older.

Children. About 1.3 million victims of identity theft each year are children. Of the 1.3 million victims, 50% are younger than six. Statistically, a child's identity theft costs twice the average fraud amount when compared to an adult.
College Students. The Federal Trade Commission indicates college students are about five times more likely to be identity theft victims.
Working Adults. Almost 75% of all identity theft victims are between the ages of 20 and 59, which are the prime working years.
Seniors. Every four minutes, a senior citizen becomes a victim of identity theft. Those victims over age 80 typically experience the highest average financial loss compared to the other age groups.

While it is impossible to inoculate yourself from all identity theft, early detection is key. By using Audit Alarm as your tax-related identity theft protection program, we will Alert you to activity on your IRS tax account.

Complete Credit & Consumer Identity Protection, also available (not included)

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