From financial devastation to emotional pain, the dangers of identity theft are considerable. According to the Federal Trade Commission approximately 4.3 million Americans were victims of fraud and identity theft in the first 9 months of 2023 - with losses exceeding $6 billion. A recent Australian Bureau of Statistics report revealed 1.8 million people experienced card fraud in 2022-23, a further 514,300 people experienced some kind of scam, and approximately 200,000 people were victims of identity theft.
- Fraudsters may be able to open new accounts, credit cards, and loans in your name
- Hackers can take over your email and other electronically-recorded accounts
- You could spend large amounts of time and money recovering your identity
- Your personal data could circulate on for almost forever and you could start receiving many more spam calls and emails
- Your children or elderly parents could have their identities stolen
When someone steals cash out of your hand, it is a one-time loss - but when criminals steal your identity, it can take weeks, months, or even years to fully recover. Even after you think that you have recovered, statistics indicate that there is a 26% chance you will become a repeat victim of identity theft and fraud and become one of the 6% who lose more than $10,000 throughout multiple attacks. When we think of the dangers of identity theft, the first thing that usually comes to mind is financial fraud.
Once a criminal has access to your personally identifiable information or credit card numbers, they can often …
- create duplicate credit cards using your credit card numbers.
- use your bank account numbers to make withdrawals.
- open fraudulent loans or lines of credit under your name.
- apply for credit at other companies or banks using your information.
- empty out your bank account.
Luckily, most credit card companies and banks will not blame you for the money that an identity thief spends in your name - if you report the fraud quickly, and actively work to shut down the scammer. Doing that still does not stop a thief from draining your savings, racking up debt, or damaging your credit score.
To be continued
