It sounds like some dastardly Orwellian plot that involves making a plaster imprint of your face and fashioning silicone fingerprints and fake passports. But identity theft is an all-too-real modern-day phenomenon. According to the Federal Trade Commission, more than a half-million Americans will have their identities stolen this year.
The most common types of identity theft are:
- using or opening a credit card account fraudulently
- opening cell phone or utility accounts fraudulently
- passing bad checks or opening a new bank account
- getting loans in another person's name
- working in another person's name
Though that last one doesn't sound so bad to us (especially if they're contributing to Social Security and making their way through the items in our "to do" box), the fallout from ID theft is annoying, at best, and extremely costly and really, really annoying, at worst.
Learn more in the expanded version of this article, which includes information on how to avoid identity theft.
Find out more about how the world of credit works in our Credit Center. And in these articles:
- Borrower, Beware
- How Will They Scam Thee?
- Shocking Credit Card Facts
- Who Has the Keys to Your Credit File?
- Sneaky Credit Card Tactics
You can also get a great credit education on our Consumer Credit/ Credit Cards discussion board.
