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IDENTITY THEFT LAWYERS
Identity theft is one of the most savage crimes that can be committed today. It can result in the destruction of your credit, loss of your life savings, inability to obtain further credit/finance opportunities, loss of potential job opportunities (in particular, banks and financial institutions find it especially important for their potential employees to maintain strong credit), and apartment or home purchases. Businesses want to keep you on the hook for fraudulent transactions, no matter how obvious it is that you are not the liable party instead of acknowledging it was a criminal – a fraudster who the business will likely never locate and recover the lost proceeds from.
What is Identity Theft?
Identity theft occurs when an individual uses your personal identifying information (your name, birthday, social security number, etc.) without authorization. Identity theft is typically motivated by financial gain by fraudsters. In 2021, approximately 23.9 million people were victims of identity theft. A majority of those victims (about 76%) experienced some type of misuse of at least one existing account, such as a credit card or a bank account. Astonishingly, in total, identity theft victims experienced financial losses of approximately $16.4 billion in 2021.
How Does Identity Theft Traditionally Occur?
Some of the more traditional methods of identity theft can occur through the following circumstances:
- Established Relationships: sadly, family members, friends, roommates (and the like), have easy access to your personal identifying information (wallet, computer, mail, etc.) and will use your trust in them to steal your information and commit fraud.
- Phone: where fraudsters obtains your information by claiming they are calling on behalf of a trusted institution and falsely state they have a legitimate need for your information.
- Vishing: a type of phone scam where fraudsters use promises like the offer of a prize, or threats, to prompt victims to provide their information.
- Lost Personal Items: loss of your wallet, cell phone or similar item that contains highly confidential personal information.
- Trash: identity thieves will go through your garbage to obtain your personal identifying information, typically through discarded but still legible documents.
- Co-workers: co-workers who have access to your personal information provided in conjunction with your employment.
Understanding Your Rights: The Fair Credit Reporting Act
How Do Identity Thieves Use Technology for their Benefit?
With technological advances, identity thieves have expanded their reach. For instance, identity thieves now can obtain your information through:
- Data breaches: gaining unauthorized access to data in a system or computer of a company or institution that you have trusted with your information.
- Phishing: emails used to deceive a victim into providing personal or financial information.
- Smishing: the use of text messaging impersonating a trusted organization (or even a friend) to trick a victim into providing personal and financial information.
- Fake Websites: websites that are created to look like lawful and established organizations where a victim is tricked into providing online credentials.
- Skimming: when a criminal steals your information by manipulating an electronic card reader so that the fraudster acquires your credit information. Skimming can happen at any electronic terminal, such as credit card readers used in stores for making payments, ATM machines, and gas pumps, to name a few.
- Contactless Payment: a thief can use a device to read information from a credit card (or other payment source) that is used for contactless transactions.
- Public Internet: a criminal can gain access to a public wi-fi connection and intercept sensitive information that is sent online by the victims who uses the same wi-fi connection.
- Public USB Charging (also known as “juice jacking”): fraudsters can upload malware (a type of software) that allows them to access your phone, and the information stored on it while you are charging your phone.
How is My Fraudulently Obtained Information Used?
Fraudsters use unlawfully obtained information in various ways, most typically to: open new bank or credit card accounts, opening new lines of credit with banking institutions, making unauthorized purchases with existing accounts of the victim, filing fraudulent tax returns, purchasing cell phone equipment (or other items) for later sale of the item, renting apartments, taking cash advances out on existing credit cards, transferring funds from existing bank accounts, obtaining employment under the victim’s name and even obtaining health insurance or health care services under the victim’s name. The possibilities for wrongdoing are endless. Anything you can do personally with your information, so can a criminal.
What Can You Do to Protect Yourself Against Identity Theft?
There’s no guaranteed method for stopping an identity thief. That’s the unfortunate truth. And with nearly all transactions in this modern era involving electronic transmissions, exposing yourself to identity theft to some degree is unavoidable. However, there are some steps you can take to minimize potential of this crime from occurring or continuing to occur:
- Be sure that the information you share is with a legitimate business or trusted individual.
- Never share your information with someone that calls you for the first time, regardless of what institution s/he claims to be from.
- Be wary of how you access the internet, especially when traveling. Use a hotspot or other internet service that is personal and private to you, and not through public wi-fi.
- Confirm the legitimacy of the individual or business you share the information with prior to doing so, regardless of how reliable they may initially seem.
- Keep records of your accounts, transactions and use of your finances. This is not only helpful in recognizing any unlawful use of your accounts, if it does occur, but may help in proving to the bank and credit reporting agencies that you are not responsible for any fraudulent conduct.
- Sign up for a credit monitoring service so you can receive immediate updates as to your credit usage. However, be wary of any arbitration clauses contained within the fine print of any subscription you sign up for. These clauses can waive your right to courts and limit your potential recovery.
What are Signs that You May be a Victim of Identity Theft?
None of these are dispositive of you being a victim of identity theft. And in some instances, they may simply be the result of some kind of clerical error. However, if you are involved in one or more of the following situations, you may have had your identity compromised:
- Receiving bills or statements for accounts that you never opened.
- Receiving letters regarding credit card or loan denials for products that you never applied for.
- Being locked out of your online access to one or more accounts.
- Transactions for your accounts that you never authorized or engaged in.
- Mail that you are expecting does not arrive.
- Calls from debt collectors for debts that you do not owe.
- Rejection of your tax return.
- Inquiries on your credit report from institutions that you never applied for financing from.
- Medical bills relating to treatment that you never requested or received.
How Do Identity Thieves Use Technology for their Benefit?
With technological advances, identity thieves have expanded their reach. For instance, identity thieves now can obtain your information through:
- Data breaches: gaining unauthorized access to data in a system or computer of a company or institution that you have trusted with your information.
- Phishing: emails used to deceive a victim into providing personal or financial information.
- Smishing: the use of text messaging impersonating a trusted organization (or even a friend) to trick a victim into providing personal and financial information.
- Fake Websites: websites that are created to look like lawful and established organizations where a victim is tricked into providing online credentials.
- Skimming: when a criminal steals your information by manipulating an electronic card reader so that the fraudster acquires your credit information. Skimming can happen at any electronic terminal, such as credit card readers used in stores for making payments, ATM machines, and gas pumps, to name a few.
- Contactless Payment: a thief can use a device to read information from a credit card (or other payment source) that is used for contactless transactions.
- Public Internet: a criminal can gain access to a public wi-fi connection and intercept sensitive information that is sent online by the victims who uses the same wi-fi connection.
- Public USB Charging (also known as “juice jacking”): fraudsters can upload malware (a type of software) that allows them to access your phone, and the information stored on it while you are charging your phone.
How is My Fraudulently Obtained Information Used?
Fraudsters use unlawfully obtained information in various ways, most typically to: open new bank or credit card accounts, opening new lines of credit with banking institutions, making unauthorized purchases with existing accounts of the victim, filing fraudulent tax returns, purchasing cell phone equipment (or other items) for later sale of the item, renting apartments, taking cash advances out on existing credit cards, transferring funds from existing bank accounts, obtaining employment under the victim’s name and even obtaining health insurance or health care services under the victim’s name. The possibilities for wrongdoing are endless. Anything you can do personally with your information, so can a criminal.
What Can You Do to Protect Yourself Against Identity Theft?
There’s no guaranteed method for stopping an identity thief. That’s the unfortunate truth. And with nearly all transactions in this modern era involving electronic transmissions, exposing yourself to identity theft to some degree is unavoidable. However, there are some steps you can take to minimize potential of this crime from occurring or continuing to occur:
- Be sure that the information you share is with a legitimate business or trusted individual.
- Never share your information with someone that calls you for the first time, regardless of what institution s/he claims to be from.
- Be wary of how you access the internet, especially when traveling. Use a hotspot or other internet service that is personal and private to you, and not through public wi-fi.
- Confirm the legitimacy of the individual or business you share the information with prior to doing so, regardless of how reliable they may initially seem.
- Keep records of your accounts, transactions and use of your finances. This is not only helpful in recognizing any unlawful use of your accounts, if it does occur, but may help in proving to the bank and credit reporting agencies that you are not responsible for any fraudulent conduct.
- Sign up for a credit monitoring service so you can receive immediate updates as to your credit usage. However, be wary of any arbitration clauses contained within the fine print of any subscription you sign up for. These clauses can waive your right to courts and limit your potential recovery.
The Kim Law Firm, LLC (“KLF”) aggressively enforces consumer rights. We fight for the little guy.
Your matter is not just another case – at KLF we treat all legal needs with the same particular care and attention that they deserve because we understand no two cases are alike.
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Case results depend on a variety of factors, and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. The information on this website may not reflect current legal developments and is provided without any knowledge as to the reader/user’s specific circumstances. The application and impact of laws varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Attorneys’ fees and compensation are provided from a successful resolution. The law firm has offices in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
