Identity Theft vs. Identity Fraud - What's the Difference?

While identity theft can happen to anyone, there are some things you can do to reduce your risk. If you think someone is using your personal information to open accounts, file taxes, or make purchases, visit IdentityTheft.gov to report and recover from identity theft. Looking for identity theft resources to share in your community? Visit ftc.

The Federal Trade Commission has issued its final rules under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) regarding further definition of the terms “identity theft” and “identity theft report”; the duration of active duty alerts; and the appropriate proof of identity needed by consumers to block fraudulent trade lines in their consumer reports, place or remove fraud or active.

Recovering from identity theft is a process. Here’s step-by-step advice that can help you limit the damage, report identity theft, and fix your credit.

As noted above, identity theft and fraud usually refer to the same crime. Still, one could make the case that the fraud is the actual use of the stolen information for illicit gain. What kinds of crimes can be committed once thieves are able to have others’ personal information? All sorts of them as it turns out.

Identity Theft Essay Sample. Identity theft is a major crime that happens to millions of people every year. People whose identities have been stolen can spend months and years trying to clean up the mess the thieves have made of a good name and credit record.

VII. Identity Theft Legislation. VIII. Conclusion and Bibliography. I. Introduction. In 1998, the U.S. Congress passed the Identity Theft Assumption and Deterrence Act (ITADA), which criminalized the act of identity theft and directed the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to collect complaints from consumers.

Definition. Identity theft is the unauthorized use of your personal identifying information by anyone who intends to impersonate you or to conduct any activities in your name. The thief may impersonate you online, by mail, over the telephone, or in person.

Identity theft is the deliberate use of someone else's identity, usually as a method to gain a financial advantage or obtain credit and other benefits in the other person's name, and perhaps to the other person's disadvantage or loss. The person whose identity has been assumed may suffer adverse consequences, especially if they are held responsible for the perpetrator's actions.

The definition of identity theft is the unauthorized use of someone’s personal data or documents (usually social security card or credit cards) to obtain merchandise, services or credit. The frightening reality is that could happen to anyone. Consider that once identity thieves grab your personal information, they can empty your bank account.

Sample FTC Identity Theft Complaint. More than just a template, our step-by-step interview process makes it easy to create an FTC Identity Theft Complaint. Save, sign, print, and download your document when you are done.

Identity Theft Everyone loves shopping online, you save time, not exactly money, but who cares when its holiday time, at least you won’t need to fight for a parking spot in the hectic malls. Growing up in America’s technological day and age, almost everyone has a computer or at least knows how.