Identity Theft: Effects on Its Victims

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Identity Theft: Effects on its Victims What is identity theft? Identity theft is the wrongful obtainment and use of someone else’s personal data in some way that involves fraud or deception, typically for economic gain. An estimated 11.7 million people reported Identity theft and the financial loss totaling more than $17 billion in 2008 (“11.7”). Identity theft is a serious problem for many people. And most people won’t even know their identity’s been stolen until it’s too late and they become a victim to identity theft. Identity thieves can cause a lot of harm to their victims, such as stealing their personal information; several negative effects identity theft has on its victims are using your identity for criminal activities, financial loss, and it can even put people in physical danger. The most important effect identity theft causes is that criminals can use your identity to commit crimes. Such as drug smuggling or crossing state lines they can commit fraud to gain government benefits. And by using their identity to commit these crimes can seriously damage someone’s reputation. What if the only evidence police had for a crime was your name then what, it might end up on the news saying that this person is a wanted criminal. The police could end up putting the wrong person in jail. This person would have to go through a lot of trouble trying to clear their name and get their identity back. Even if that person manages to get their life back together identity theft still takes an emotional toll on its victims. There are many ways for criminals to steal your money and identity theft is one of them. Identity thieves can do serious financial damage to their victims. They can steal your credit card number and use it for themselves making many unauthorized purchases that can be a hassle to clear. They can acquire your bank account information and withdraw your money
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