What is identity theft and identity fraud?
Identity theft is the act of stealing someone's personal information and identity fraud is the use of an individual's identifying information to commit crimes.
What is identity theft?
Identity theft occurs when someone uses information about you, such as your Social Security Number, address or birthdate to open new financial accounts, make purchases or get a tax refund. Children's personal information is particularly appealing to criminals as their information can be used to build a clean credit profile.
Today's digital society enables criminals to commit identity theft online at an individual level. But that's not the only way a person's identity can be stolen.
How is identity theft committed?
- Stolen purses, wallets - Your purse and wallet contain crucial personal information — information that thieves can use to pretend to be you when opening new financial accounts.
- Mail - Mail and packages can be stolen from your trash cans and porches. The information can be used to open new credit card accounts in your name.
- Solicitations or surveys - Holiday giving solicitations and surveys are simple ways identity thieves can get your information.
- Online shopping - It's common to shop online these days. Your favorite shopping site can be hacked and your personal information stolen.
- Phishing - Emails are sent to potential victims with creative headlines. The criminals hope to trick you into taking an action, like clicking on a link that might give them access to your personal information.
- Malware - Criminals attempt to get a person to download software through a website in order to place software on their computer. The software, usually offered for free, includes malicious software or malware that give open access to the victim's computer.
Prevent identity theft
Preventing identity theft can be a daily job. You should always have your computer and phone software up to date, consider two-factor authentication (2FA), be careful with the mail you receive, and review your bills and credit card statements regularly.
Report identity theft
If your identity has been stolen, you should report the identity theft as soon as possible. You'll want to contact your local police department, the company that you believe the fraud started with, update all of your log in credentials and possibly freeze your credit or create a fraud alert with the credit bureaus.
For identity theft protection, State Farm® offers Identity Restoration Insurance that can help make restoring your financial state less painful and costly. For more information about Identity Restoration Insurance, contact your State Farm agent.
What is identity fraud?
Identity fraud means the fraudulent use of an individual's identifying information to commit crimes such as tax fraud, unlawfully establish credit accounts, create fake IDs or passports, secure loans or enter into contracts. Identity fraud occurs when a criminal uses personal information, such as a Social Security Number or credit card account number to steal financial resources.
Identity fraud does not occur when a credit card is simply stolen — it may be consumer fraud, but is not identity fraud. Identity fraud occurs when someone steals personal information, opens credit card accounts in your name without permission and charges merchandise to those accounts.
Identity fraud is a federal crime in the United States. According to Consumer Affairs, credit card fraud is the most common method of account takeover.
If you find you're a victim of identity theft or fraud, report the fraud and contact the police and your financial institution immediately. For more information about online security and identity theft, visit the Federal Trade Commission website.
