Editing Identity theft (section)

== Types ==
{{Further|Levels of identity security}}
Sources such as the [[Non-profit]] [[Identity Theft Resource Center]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.idtheftcenter.org/ |title=Identity Theft Resource Center website |publisher=idtheftcenter.org }}</ref> sub-divide identity theft into five categories:
* Criminal identity theft (posing as another person when apprehended for a crime)
* Financial identity theft (using another's identity to obtain credit, goods, and services)
* Identity cloning (using another's information to assume his or her identity in daily life)
* Medical identity theft (using another's identity to obtain medical care or drugs)
* Child identity theft.

Identity theft may be used to facilitate or fund other crimes including [[illegal immigration]], [[terrorism]], [[phishing]] and [[espionage]]. There are cases of identity cloning to attack [[payment system]]s, including online credit card processing and [[medical insurance]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldprivacyforum.org/medidtheft_consumertips.html |title=Medical Identity Theft: What to Do if You are a Victim (or are concerned about it) }}, World Privacy Forum</ref>

=== Identity cloning and concealment ===
In this situation, the identity thief impersonates someone else to conceal their own true identity. Examples are [[illegal immigrant]]s hiding their illegal status, people hiding from [[creditor]]s or other individuals and those who simply want to become "[[Anonymity|anonymous]]" for personal reasons. Another example is ''posers'', a label given to people who use someone else's photos and information on social networking sites. Posers mostly create believable stories involving friends of the real person they are imitating. Unlike identity theft used to obtain credit which usually comes to light when the debts mount, concealment may continue indefinitely without being detected, particularly if the identity thief can obtain false credentials to pass various authentication tests in everyday life.

=== Criminal identity theft ===
When a criminal fraudulently identifies themselves to police as another individual at the point of arrest, it is sometimes referred to as "Criminal Identity Theft." In some cases, criminals have previously obtained state-issued identity documents using credentials stolen from others, or have simply presented a [[fake ID]]. Provided the subterfuge works, charges may be placed under the victim's name, letting the criminal off the hook. Victims might only learn of such incidents by chance, for example by receiving a court summons, discovering their driver's licenses are suspended when stopped for minor traffic violations, or through [[background check]]s performed for employment purposes.

It can be difficult for the victim of criminal identity theft to clear their record. The steps required to clear the victim's incorrect [[criminal record]] depend on which jurisdiction the crime occurred and whether the true identity of the criminal can be determined. The victim might need to locate the original arresting officers and prove their own identity by some reliable means such as fingerprinting or DNA testing and may need to go to a court hearing to be cleared of the charges. Obtaining an [[expungement]] of court records may also be required. Authorities might permanently maintain the victim's name as an alias for the criminal's true identity in their criminal records databases. One problem that victims of criminal identity theft may encounter is that various [[data aggregators]] might still have incorrect criminal records in their databases even after court and police records are corrected. Thus a future background check may return the incorrect criminal records.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs17g-CrimIdTheft.htm |title=Privacy Rights Clearinghouse |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120921/http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs17g-CrimIdTheft.htm |archive-date=21 September 2012 }} - "Fact Sheet 17g: Criminal Identity Theft: What to Do If It Happens to You "</ref> This is just one example of the kinds of impact that may continue to affect the victims of identity theft for some months or even years after the crime, aside from the psychological trauma that being 'cloned' typically engenders.

=== Synthetic identity theft ===
A variation of identity theft that has recently become more common is ''synthetic identity theft'', in which identities are completely or partially fabricated.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.leagle.com/decision/2009567417bbr1501566|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150719051854/http://www.leagle.com/decision/2009567417bbr150_1566|url-status=dead|title=In Re Colokathis &#124; 417 B.R. 150 (2009)|archive-date=19 July 2015|website=Leagle}}</ref> The most common technique involves combining a real [[social security number]] with a name and birthdate other than the ones that are simply associated with the number. Synthetic identity theft is more difficult to track as it doesn't show on either person's credit report directly but may appear as an entirely new file in the [[credit bureau]] or as a subfile on one of the victim's credit reports. Synthetic identity theft primarily harms the creditors who unwittingly grant the fraudsters credit. Individual victims can be affected if their names become confused with the synthetic identities, or if negative information in their subfiles impacts their credit ratings.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/pf/identity_theft_20070516_a1.asp |title=Detecting synthetic identity fraud |access-date=21 September 2008 |last=McFadden |first=Leslie |date=16 May 2007 |work=Bankrate.com |pages=1–2 }}</ref>

=== Medical identity theft ===
{{See also|Medical privacy}}
[[File:Figure 2- Risk of Identity Theft with Medicare Card under CMS’s Three Proposed Options (7802334168).jpg|thumb|US [[Government Accountability Office]] diagram showing the identity theft risk associated with social security numbers on [[Medicare (United States)|Medicare cards]]]]

Privacy researcher Pam Dixon, the founder of the World Privacy Forum,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldprivacyforum.org/|title=World Privacy Forum|website=www.worldprivacyforum.org|accessdate=25 December 2023}}</ref> coined the term medical identity theft and released the first major report about this issue in 2006. In the report, she defined the crime for the first time and made the plight of victims public. The report's definition of the crime is that medical identity theft occurs when someone seeks medical care under the identity of another person. Insurance theft is also very common, if a thief has your insurance information and or your insurance card, they can seek medical attention posing as yourself.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.igrad.com/articles/8-types-of-identity-theft|title=Get to Know These Common Types of ID Theft|website=iGrad|access-date=29 September 2016}}</ref>  In addition to risks of financial harm common to all forms of identity theft, the thief's medical history may be added to the victim's [[medical record]]s. Inaccurate information in the victim's records is difficult to correct and may affect future insurability or cause doctors to rely on misinformation to deliver inappropriate care. After the publication of the report, which contained a recommendation that consumers receive notifications of medical data breach incidents, California passed a law requiring this, and then finally [[Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act|HIPAA]] was expanded to also require medical breach notification when breaches affect 500 or more people.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldprivacyforum.org/medicalidentitytheft.html|title=The Medical Identity Theft Information Page|publisher=World Privacy Forum|access-date=26 November 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130416062351/http://www.worldprivacyforum.org/medicalidentitytheft.html|archive-date=16 April 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.idtheftcenter.org/artman2/publish/v_fact_sheets/Fact_Sheet_130_A_Correcting_Misinformation_on_Medical_Records.shtml |title=Correcting Misinformation on Medical Records |publisher=Identity Theft Resource Center |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130123025205/http://www.idtheftcenter.org/artman2/publish/v_fact_sheets/Fact_Sheet_130_A_Correcting_Misinformation_on_Medical_Records.shtml |archive-date=23 January 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Data collected and stored by hospitals and other organizations such as medical aid schemes is up to 10 times more valuable to cybercriminals than credit card information.

=== Child identity theft ===
Child identity theft occurs when a minor's identity is used by another person for the impostor's personal gain. The impostor can be a family member, a friend, or even a stranger who targets children. The Social Security numbers of children are valued because they do not have any information associated with them.  Thieves can establish lines of credit, obtain driver's licenses, or even buy a house using a child's identity. This fraud can go undetected for years, as most children do not discover the problem until years later.  Child identity theft is fairly common, and studies have shown that the problem is growing. The largest study on child identity theft, as reported by Richard Power of the Carnegie Mellon Cylab with data supplied by [[AllClear ID]], found that of 40,000 children, 10.2% were victims of identity theft.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.foxbusiness.com/features/government-turns-spotlight-on-child-id-theft-problem|title=Government Turns Spotlight on Child ID Theft Problem|date=12 January 2016|website=CreditCards.com|language=en-US|access-date=22 April 2019}}</ref>

The [[Federal Trade Commission]] (FTC) estimates that about nine million people will be victims of identity theft in the United States per year. It was also estimated that in 2008; 630,000 people under the age of 19 were victims of theft. This then gave the victims a debt of about $12,799.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A317310399/AONE?u=sunybuff_main&sid=AONE&xid=8502170b.|title=Protecting and defending a young person in foster care from financial identity theft|last=Clemente|first=Jean|date=Feb 2010}}</ref>

Not only are children in general big targets of identity theft but children who are in foster care are even bigger targets. This is because they are most likely moved around quite frequently and their SSN is being shared with multiple people and agencies. Foster children are even more victims of identity theft within their own families and other relatives. Young people in foster care who are victims of this crime are usually left alone to struggle and figure out how to fix their newly formed bad credit.<ref name=":5" />

The emergence of children's identities on social media has also contributed to a rise in incidents of digital kidnapping and identity theft. [[Digital kidnapping]] involves individuals stealing online images of children and misrepresenting them as their own.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Berg |first1=Valeska |last2=Arabiat |first2=Diana |last3=Morelius |first3=Evalotte |last4=Kervin |first4=Lisa |last5=Zgambo |first5=Maggie |last6=Robinson |first6=Suzanne |last7=Jenkins |first7=Mark |last8=Whitehead |first8=Lisa |date=2024-02-21 |title=Young Children and the Creation of a Digital Identity on Social Networking Sites: Scoping Review |journal=JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting |language=EN |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=e54414 |doi=10.2196/54414|doi-access=free |pmid=38381499 |pmc=10918551 }}</ref>

=== Financial identity theft ===
The most common type of identity theft is related to finance. Financial identity theft includes obtaining credit, loans, goods, and services while claiming to be someone else.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.idtheftcenter.org/Identity-Theft/what-is-financial-identity-theft.html |title=What is Financial Identity Theft |publisher=ID Theft Center |access-date=3 December 2014}}</ref>

=== Tax identity theft ===
{{see also|Tax evasion}}
One of the major identity theft categories is '''tax-related identity theft'''. The most common method is to use a person's authentic name, address, and [[Social Security Number]] to file a tax return with false information, and have the resulting refund direct-deposited into a bank account controlled by the thief. The thief in this case can also try to get a job and then their employer will report the income of the real taxpayer, this then results in the taxpayer getting in trouble with the IRS.<ref name=":03">{{Cite web|url=https://www.citrincooperman.com/In-Focus-Resource-Center|title=In Focus Resource Center from Citrin Cooperman &#124; Ideas That Count|website=www.citrincooperman.com|accessdate=25 December 2023}}</ref>

The 14039 Form to the [[Internal Revenue Service|IRS]] is a form that will help one fight against a theft like tax theft. This form will put the IRS on alert and someone who believed they have been a victim of tax-related theft will be given an Identity Protection Personal Identification Number (IP PIN), which is a 6 digit code used in replacing an SSN for filing tax returns.<ref name=":03" />