WE OFTEN hear about hoax and hoaxers. There is a new term ‘identity stealer’s’ doing the rounds for these impostors who play tricks for their own benefit on innocent, unsuspecting people. The term is used for those doing frauds, deception or scams. These people are involved in stealing money or getting other benefits by pretending to be someone they are not.

The person whose identity they do thus suffers its consequences as they are responsible for the action of the doer. In several countries specific laws make it a crime to use another person’s identity for personal gain.

There are four types of identity thefts. They can be categorized as
Financial identity theft: They use another’s identity to obtain goods and services. Criminal identity theft: Posing as another person they commit acts of crime.

Identity replica: These persons use the information of another person to assume his or her identity in daily interactions.
Business/commercial identity theft: These people use another’s business name to obtain credit or goods.

The most common identity theft does so far financial reasons. They misuse the credit cards and fraud checks, loan takeovers, etc.
People often get credit cards and open bank accounts in the victims name and buy all kinds of expensive merchandise they can either keep or sell for cash. In extreme cases, they even take huge and then simply disappear. Luckily, photo identification which is necessary for high priced transactions and loans comes as a safety guard here.

Credit isn’t the only thing that can be destroyed by identity theft. Many times, criminals will use your personal information to get a driver’s license because they are on the wanted police list and this way they can commit crimes easily and without anyone doubting their intentions. If these criminals rent a car that is used in a crime, guess who is the first suspect? That’s right, it’s YOU. By the time you even realize this has happened, your name and picture might be all over the news.

This can annihilate your good name in your community or even the entire country. Even when it is proved you had absolutely nothing to do with the crime, people still associates you with that particular event. The damage is lasting.