Identity theft occurs when someone gains unauthorized access to your personally identifying information – such as your name, Social Security Number (SSN), or bank account information – and uses it to commit fraud or other crimes.
The crimes that an identity thief is able to commit with your personal information range from applying for a credit card under your name before subsequently racking up prodigious charges to poaching your tax refund. In some cases, identity thieves are even able to assume an unsuspecting person’s identity entirely, obtaining identification bearing their name and often committing crimes “as that person.”
Those are terrifying prospects, to say the least. It’s clear that identity theft can cost you a lot of money as well as create confusion across the breadth of your life, but despite the horror stories, you have to wonder how prevalent identity theft actually is as well as what you can do to prevent it.
Source: https://wallethub.com/edu/identity-theft/17120/
