Identity theft can be a traumatic experience for victims of fraud, personal data theft and security breaches that may result in stolen information and substantial financial losses. Advances in technology have made consumer activity very convenient, but now present serious security risks for anyone with an online presence.
Online scams, stolen bank and credit card statements can compromise delicate personal information. If anyone has stolen your personal or financial information or assumed your identity, contact an identity theft lawyer as soon as possible.
Joe Lyon is a Personal Data Breach Attorney and Identity Theft Lawyer representing victims of fraud, security breaches and identity theft nationwide.
Common Types of Identity Theft
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), approximately 17 million Americans were victims of identity theft last year. Identity theft can occur when a person uses your personal information without permission to commit fraud or make unlawful purchases. The most commonly stolen personal data includes:
The most common forms of identity theft include:
- Financial theft: using someone else’s identity to obtain goods, services, or credit.
- Cloning Identity: using someone’s identifying information to assume their identity in daily life.
- Medical Identity theft: using a false identity to obtain prescriptions or medical care records.
- Business Identity Theft: fraudulent individuals pose as owners or employees of a business to obtain cash, credit, or loans. Criminals poach on the following:
- Bank account numbers
- Tax ID numbers
- Business statements
- Company credit card numbers
How to Prevent Identity Theft
To protect yourself against identity theft, you should follow careful Internet practice, which should include:
- Creating unique passwords for each online bank and email account
- Use trusted websites
- Use updated antivirus programs
- Limiting personal information on social media
- Keep track of financial accounts
Common tactics and ways identity theft is committed:
- Criminals pose as a bank representatives and ask for banking information
- Fraudsters pose as an insurance agents or corporate agencies to access personal information
- Employees gain access to sensitive information to exploit it
- Credit card fraud
- Dumpster-diving in recycling or trash bins for financial info
Medical Identity Theft
When criminals obtain sensitive personal information, they may use it to commit medical identity theft. Victims may not notice their identity has been misused until months later when huge medical bills arrive for mysterious services. Not only can medical identity theft cases result in large costs but can impact your own healthcare needs.
Contact an Identity Theft Lawyer
Identity theft and personal data misuse crimes can affect victims for months and years after the fact. It is important to contact an experienced security breach attorney and Identity theft lawyer to begin the process of recovering financial losses and to mitigate the damage of a company or individual reputation in the future.
Following a data breach incident, victims should consider talking to a legal expert, and move quickly to take the following steps to help prevent identity theft and fraud:
- Confirm the data breach by contacting the “breached” company
- Learn exactly what kind of personal data was compromised
- Monitor your accounts for fraudulent activity
- Change your logins and passwords
- Keep a detailed record of suspicious activity
- Contact your bank and cancel credit cards if they have been leaked
- Stay alert for signs of future identity theft
- Sign up for a credit monitoring service
