Courts

1ST SLIDE: Identity theft starts with the misuse of a person's personally identifying information, such as name and Social Security number, credit card numbers or other financial account information. For identity thieves, this information is as good as gold.

2ND SLIDE: What do thieves do with a stolen identity?
Once they have your personal information, identity thieves use it in a variety of ways.

Credit card fraud:
They may open new credit card accounts in their victim's name. When they use the cards and do not pay the bills, the delinquent accounts appear on their victim's credit report.
They may change the billing address for a credit card so that the victim no longer receives bills, and then run up charges on the account. It may be some time before the victim realizes there's a problem because the bills are being sent to a different address.
Phone or utilities fraud:
They may open a new phone or wireless account in their victim's name or run up charges on an existing account.
They may use their victim's name to get utility services like electricity, heating or cable TV.
Bank/finance fraud:
They may create counterfeit checks using their victim's name or account number.
They may open a bank account in their victim's name and write bad checks.
They may clone their victim's ATM or debit card and make electronic withdrawals in their name, draining the accounts.
They may take out a loan in their victim's name.
Government documents fraud:
They may get a driver's license or official ID card issued in their victim's name but with their photo.
They may use their victim's name and Social Security number to get government benefits.
They may file a fraudulent tax return using their victim's information.
Other fraud:
They may get a job using their victim's Social Security number.
They may rent a house or get medical services using their victim's name.
They may give their victim's personal information to police during an arrest. If they do not