Public Misconceptions about Identity Theft

Members Click Here to Login

Send Feedback

Your Expert Fraud Prevention Resource

Find it Fast:


		Consumer Identity Theft
		Identity Theft Basics
		The Many Types of Identity Theft
		ID Theft Services
		Protect Your Privacy
		Privacy Basics
		Stop Junk Mail
		Stop Telemarketing Calls
		SPAM Email
		Credit Reports
		Credit Report Basics
		FREE Credit Reports
		Fraud Alerts
		Credit Freezes / Security Freezes
		Fraud Victim Statements
		Contact the Credit Bureaus
		Credit Monitoring Services
		Specialty Consumer Reports
		Specialty Report Basics
		FREE Copies of Your Reports

Click to visit the Red Flags Rule Center

Public Knowledge Center > Identity Theft

Font Size: A A A A

Dangerous Public Misconceptions about Identity Theft

Identity Theft is a crime with some degree of mystique, and far too often considered a crime that affects other people - until it is too late. There are many myths and dangerous misconceptions about Identity Theft, fueled by advertising and marketing campaigns, a general lack of public understanding, and media focus on only certain aspects or forms of the crime.

Identity Theft is Not Limited to only Financial Matters

Financial Identity Theft may be the most recognized form of the crime, but it is certainly not the only form. There are many other forms of the crime that can have far more serious and long-lasting consequences for the victim. For virtually every method or type of identification, there are means by which that information may be used by criminals and scam artists for illicit gain. Criminal, medical, employment, benefits and tax fraud, and other non-financial forms of Identity Theft and fraud can present multiple specific and serious problems to victimized individuals. Non-financial fraudulent activities are generally difficult to discover until after the damage has already been done, and typically never appear on a credit report in any format unless the thief's actions result in a linked address in the report that arouses suspicion, generates collections activity, or results in a felony conviction or other reportable public record.

Identity Theft is Not Simply Credit Card Fraud

The financial industry, eager to maintain consumer confidence, spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year airing countless commercials about credit card fraud protection, fueling a dangerous public misconception that Identity Theft is just credit card fraud and that you are protected as their customer. With very key exceptions, usually buried within compromise amendments to consumer protection legislation and outlined within the fine print of account holder agreements, federal consumer protection laws generally limit a victimized consumers financial liability for certain types of fraudulent financial transactions. However, most consumers are completely oblivious to the fact that their fraud liability protection is not unconditional, and that they may still face full liability for fraudulent charges involving their name or account if specific conditions and reporting requirements are not met.

Credit Monitoring is Not the Answer to Identity Theft

Credit monitoring services were not developed for the purpose of preventing Identity Theft, though that is precisely how they are aggressively marketed. The majority of consumers do not realize that credit monitoring services were developed and offered by the credit bureaus long before Identity Theft became a crime epidemic, and were developed for the purpose of assisting consumers in managing their credit rating based upon the way that the credit reporting system operates (not the way that identity thieves operate). Credit monitoring services have significant limitations which are not disclosed to consumers, and financial account fraud - the one type that may show in a credit report - is only one potential outcome of an Identity Theft incident.

Less than Perfect Credit Does Not Mean You Won't Be Victimized

"I'm not worried about Identity Theft" and "I feel sorry for anyone who steals my identity!" The rampant proliferation of non-financial Identity Theft and related fraud clearly demonstrates that good credit or financial status is not a prerequisite for you to be victimized by Identity Theft, nor is victimization limited solely to matters of financial accounts. Your personal information can be used to a thief's advantage, and your detriment, in many ways.

Identity Theft is Not a Victimless Crime

One need only to ask any of the nearly 10 million new Identity Theft and fraud victims each year who face the monumental task of cleaning up the devastation. Those whose credit was negatively affected or destroyed, those receiving an endless barrage of calls from creditors, those who cannot obtain a driver's license, those whose medical or retirement benefits have been stolen, or those who have been fired or imprisoned for crimes they did not commit. Each would vehemently deny that the crime is victimless. The defrauded businesses and merchants, who face tens of billions of dollars in combined annual fraud losses, would also argue this point. As would the employers who suffer incalculable losses of time and productivity because victimized employees must take countless hours away from work in order to report and dispute fraudulent activity in order to resolve their case.

In reality we are all victimized by the crime, whether directly or indirectly, because companies are forced to recoup their fraud losses in other ways to maintain profitability. A study conducted by the Aberdeen Group suggests that losses to financial institutions attributed to Identity Theft may have reached $2 trillion by the end of 2005. Much, if not all, of those losses are eventually passed on to consumers and businesses through new fees and higher prices for their goods and services. Perhaps you may have noticed?