What Is Considered Identity Theft?

Types

• Personal identifying information can take many forms, such as a person's name, likeness, Social Security number, address or credit card number. This information can be used to commit crimes like securing an apartment or a telephone in your name or to obtain and use credit cards, create counterfeit checks and take out loans.
  
  

Methods

• Identity thieves use various methods, including dumpster diving, stealing numbers when processing your credit card in a store, changing your address to have mail sent to a place other than your residence, pretending to be financial institutions and requesting personal information, or calling places where you to do business and pretending to be you. Often physical theft occurs from wallets and purses, mailboxes, personnel records or pre-approved credit card offers.
  
  

Consequences

• When identity theft occurs, the debt is attributed to you, until it is discovered and reported. To minimize the consequences, you must file a police report, notify your creditors and banks, check your credit report and dispute any unauthorized transactions.