Identity theft is a relatively new type of white-collar crime. It draws upon traditional interpersonal crimes such as pickpocketing, thievery, robbery, and burglary of wallets, but also uses modern technology to increase the impact of a traditional theft. How do people usually discover they have been victimized? What impact can identity theft have on individuals?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

People discover they have been preyed upon when they get a call from a credit card fraud division or when a purchase is declined at the point of sale because the card's limit has been exceeded. Others find out when they are harassed by a bill collector demanding payment on a delinquent account or when a monthly statement marked "overdue" arrives in the mail. In extreme cases, they discover they have been targeted when the police take them into custody as a fugitive on outstanding warrants, and then it becomes clear that a lawbreaker was released after showing false documents and posting bail. Some people don't discover the extent of the damage until they are denied new credit cards, turned down for student loans, disconnected from utilities, or charged extra high interest rates for mortgages and car loans. Out-of-pocket expenses and time spent on paperwork depend on how long it takes discover the fraud. It takes lower income and less educated people longer to discover the impersonation and consequently they suffer more, in terms of problems with their accounts, harassment by debt collectors, and utility cutoffs.