What is Identity Theft?
Identity theft is the illegal use of someone else’s personal identifiable information (PII) with the intent to commit fraud or gain financial benefits in their name. When you or a family member’s identity is stolen, the thieves may do anything they want with your credit information, including open new credit accounts, buy or rent property, file fake tax returns, or take out loans that destroy your credit score and your financial standing.
What is PII?
Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is any personal information about a person that is maintained by an agency. PII includes things like your name, SSN, place of birth, educational history, employment history, mother’s maiden name and much more.
Always know that identity theft can happen at any time and to anyone. Your identity is the total collection of your PII. This is the information identity thieves use when you experience a stolen identity. When they obtain to your information, they can become you financially. If any piece of this information is stolen, it can be considered a breach of your personal identity.
How an identity thief gets your PII
- Email and Phone Scams
- Stealing Wallets
- Using Lost/Stolen Social Security Cards
- Dumpster Diving
- Mail Theft
- Change of Address Fraud
What could an identity thief do with your PII?
- Open new credit card using your name
- Change the billing address on your accounts
- Rent a home or open a mortgage under your name
- Make fraudulent purchases
- Log in to personal accounts (email, banking, social media etc…)
- Get new official ID with your name on it
Always know that identity theft can happen at any time and to anyone. Your identity is the total collection of your PII. This is the information identity thieves use when you experience a stolen identity. When they obtain to your information, they can become you financially. If any piece of this information is stolen, it can be considered a breach of your personal identity.
How quickly does an identity thief start to use your personal information?
One study* by the FTC showed that criminals acted on stolen information within 9 minutes of getting the data. It is important to understand how identity theft can happen and act quickly when it does.
*FTC Study: How fast will identity thieves use stolen info? – May 2017