What is Identity Theft?
It is a serious crime in which a criminal pretends to be another person assuming the identity of the same using artifacts that appear to prove the identity of the victim such as confidential information, access codes, vouchers, identifications, etc. Usually this crime has the purpose of accessing resources and the assets that are obtained or that are in the name of the victim such as credit cards, bank loans, property, etc.
The victims of identity theft can potentially suffer from serious consequences as a result of the actions of the perpetrator of the crime. An example of this is the extreme case, but it has happened, in which the criminal acquires a credit to buy a house or some other goods while the person may remain unaware of the fact that he or she has been a victim of identity theft for a long time until the creditors begin to try to collect the commitment payments that the wrongdoer acquired on behalf of the victim. In less extreme cases, the unidentified charges on the victim’s credit cards begin to appear leaving the victim surprised with the transactions he or she never did in his or her consciousness.
The identity theft was already a serious problem before the emergence of the internet, and it has been accentuated given the flow of the electronic information that circulates day by day on the internet. Depending on the regulations of each country, in some cases, you may only need a couple of confidential data to steal an identity.
What to do if you are a victim of identity theft?
It is certainly a difficult situation, especially because of the feeling of the vexation and the insecurity with which the victims remains. The most important thing is to stay calm and follow one by one the necessary steps to fix the things which have gone wrong.
If you are the United States, you can visit the Identity Theft Resource Center or the official website of FTC for proper guidance on how you should proceed further to stop the criminals making further online fraud in your name.
In many countries, the identity theft is already typified as a crime of serious nature which is severely punishable by the law. It is highly important that you get in touch with the appropriate authorities or agencies to discourage the criminals and their malicious activities.
