Criminal Identity Theft
This is the second most common type of identity theft and most people aren't even aware of
it.
In this case, a criminal uses your information during encounters
with the police. For example, a thief who has your identifying information gets arrested for a crime and gives
them your name and social security number. One day you are driving along and get stopped for a traffic
infraction.
The cop runs your name through their database and finds out you
just committed a bank robbery in another state. Suddenly you are being hauled off to jail for something you
didn't even do!
Never mind how stressful and embarrassing this mistake could be,
it can also lead to an erroneous criminal record, outstanding arrest warrants, and possible consequences such
as being fired from your job for not disclosing a conviction and even get you thrown in jail.
What if this happens on a Friday night and they toss you the
local jail overnight? Do you have someone you can call that could bail you out? Can you afford this kind of
mistake happen in your life?
The results of this kind of criminal identity theft could include a
negative impact on future employment, loss of security clearance, lost jobs and higher insurance premiums. It
is the most difficult type of ID theft to clear up and in some cases, almost impossible.
Some victims have been reduced to carrying court
documentation with them at all times to prove who they really are and not the actual criminal.
Social Security Identity Theft
If someone uses your social security number to get a job and they
have a continuous work record, guess who gets to pay the tax bill? The answer is you. There are cases where
someone's social security number was used a total of 37 times by different people. In the employment screening
business, we see this happen every day.
Medical Identity Theft
This kind of ID theft involves someone using your health insurance for
medical and/or hospital care. The result is a mixed up medical record that could result in potentially deadly
consequences. For example, what would happen if someone used your identification and health insurance number
and got an HIV test that proved positive?
Now all of a sudden, that record is attached to your medical
records and every time you see a healthcare person, they think you have aids. In addition, this can seriously
impact your ability to get insurance and it can result in significantly higher insurance premiums.
A recent article in the November 2006 issues of Reader's Digest reported
that “fraud is estimated to account for as much as ten percent of all health care costs … including medical
identity theft.” “An insurance card is like a Visa card with a $1 million spending limit,” says Byron Hollis,
national anti-fraud director of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
The most frightening part of this article is the fact that
organized crime rings are realizing how lucrative identity theft is and are adding a new dimension to the
problem.
Driver's License Identity Theft
Our driver's license is the standard and most often used form of
identification in United States. ID thieves are professionals at creating fake driver's licenses that are
virtually impossible to detect. Having this form of picture ID opens the door to numerous other types of ID
theft.
On October 28, 2006 in California, a worker at the Santa Ana DMV
was arrested for her alleged role in an ID theft scheme that used applicant information to create fraudulent
licenses.
The indictment alleged that she used her position to sell
fraudulent drivers licenses to co-schemers who paid between $1,500 to $5,000 for each fraudulent license. She
allegedly obtained the identifications of victims from the DMV database and changed their address and
identifiers to match the fraudulent purchaser who then had a new DMV photo taken.
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