The thief will commit fraud using the person's name and important confidential information without the victim ever knowing about such transactions. Identity theft occurs once a thief assumes another person’s identity by using confidential information supposed to be known exclusively by that person.
Ever wonder how identity theft occurs? It is actually quite fascinating, if it is not a very malicious and dangerous crime.
They leave behind a ruined reputation, and a paper trail of ruined credit, debts and collectors. When the person or victim finally finds out about the crime committed, the thief is long gone in excruciating anonymity.
Sometime the implications of identity theft usually cause the wrongful arrest of the victim. Why so? Because, without the identity theft angle in the case, it can be assumed that the victim was the one who committed the crimes because it was done under his/her name.
The past several years brought about an alarming wave of identity theft crimes in different areas dealing with personal information and economic transactions.
It is an alarming occurrence and usually, the victims would suffer the implications of the crime for years to come.
Bank identity theft has been around long before there were social security, job banks, credit card, internet, airline and medical community identity thefts. One of the hardest hit by identity theft crimes are the banks.
Bank identity theft occurrences vary. Another case may involve the identity thief assuming the name and other personal information of another person then files for a bank loan. Some cases involve a thief continuously withdrawing huge amounts of cash from a bank account of another person until there is none left.
Armed with personal information of another person, an identity thief can obtain a driver's license. Bills and statements from these transactions are diverted to the thief's temporary address. He/she can open new lines of credit and bank accounts even buy a car and get a mortgage.
All these occur with the thief hidden in a shroud of anonymity. They then bilk the victim’s credit line for all it is worth in cash advances, loans and credit card debt without intent to pay.
Bank identity theft and other forms of identity theft is a nightmare for millions of people who have become victims of such crime. Sadly, though state and federal laws and stricter bank transactions have been imposed, the number of victims continues to rise each year. Indeed, the figures of those victimized have reached into millions already.
Financial recovery from identity theft can take years. When the walls come crashing in, you are left holding the bag and the thief is long gone.
Aside from this, the felon also obtained a federal home loan, bought homes, motorcycles, and handguns using the victim's name. There was a notorious case of identity theft wherein the criminal, a convicted felon incurred more than $100,000 of credit card debt.
In United States and Canada, many people have reported unauthorized persons taking out funds form their bank or financial accounts. With it, the thief have run up huge debts and committed crimes all under the name of the victim. There are even worst cases when the victims report of an identity thief who has totally taken over their identities.
He declared that he could continue posing as the victim for as long as he wanted. With maniacal pride, he called his victim to taunt him. Then, the thief filed for bankruptcy still using the victim’s name. During that time, identity theft was not yet a federal crime.
The only positive thing that came out of this case and the others similar to this is when the Congress created a new federal offense against identity theft in 1998.
Very bitter was the fact that the criminal only served a brief sentence while the victim and his wife spent more than four years to restore their reputation and credit. The criminal did not even made restitution for all the danger he had caused. They also spent more than $15,000 of their own money to win back their credit.
The information about credit card identity theft. You can avoid being a victim of bank identity theft by identifying red flags that may indicate
Here are several red flags that indicate you may be a victim of identity theft:
1. Debts showing up on your credit reports that you did not file.
2. Calls or notices from businesses about merchandise you did not buy.
3. Notifications from collection agency about accounts you never opened.
4. No bills and credit card statements arrive on the days you expect them.
5. There are notice charges, which you did not authorize on your credit card statement.
6. There are bills for a credit card account you did not open.
7. Unauthorized transfers or withdrawals on your bank statements show.
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