15.2: TYPES OF IDENTITY THEFT
- Page ID
- 67607
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Financial Theft
Financial theft is defined as the stealing of economic resources or information. Information may include name, bank account number, credit card number, Social Security number, or other financial data. According to the Lieberman Research Group’s UNISYS Security Index study, “Most Americans are concerned with credit and debit card fraud and is the #1 area of worry," with about two-thirds (68%) of Americans being 'Extremely' or 'Very' concerned (AllClear ID, 2014). It is the most pervasive type of identity theft today and accounts for 28% of all identity fraud.
How Financial ID Theft Occurs
- Theft: stolen wallets or purses make up 43% of identity theft.
- Trash: Known as “Dumpster Diving,” thieves rummage through personal and public trashcans looking for sensitive documentation.
- Bribery: Thieves entice insiders in an organization to release private information.
- Cons: Through phone calls, letters, or emails, many thieves use elaborate schemes designed to trick the victim into revealing personal or account information.
- Skimming: Credit card information is swiped through a storage device during transactions (McNeal, 2014).
Criminal Theft
Criminal theft occurs when one assumes the identity of another using the victim's name, date of birth, SSN and/or law enforcement data. Criminal theft may not always be used for financial gain. The most famous case of criminal theft is that of Frank Abagnale, a con-man who impersonated dozens of people in a variety of professions, and stole an estimated 2.5 million dollars.
Medical Theft
Medical theft occurs when one uses a another's medical information (i.e. an insurance policy) to obtain drugs or medical treatment, and often results in false medical records and incorrect diagnoses. In 2013, the health care industry made up 44% of all identity theft reported throughout the U.S. (McNeal, 2014). In April 2014, the FBI informed health care providers of their public security flaws with a private industry notification entitled “Health Care Systems and Medical Devices at Risk for Increased Cyber Intrusions for Financial Gain."
Synthetic Theft
Synthetic theft occurs when the criminal alters some aspect of the victim’s identifiable information (DOB, SSN, etc.). For example, one may take a real Social Security number and combine it with a fake name, address, and/or phone number (Brintell, 2008). Synthetic theft criminals may remain undetected for long periods of time if not noticed by institutions or the victim (Experian, 2014).