Identity theft is deliberate use of somebody's personal information such as their name, date of birth, social security number, driver's license number, bank account or credit card numbers,Pins,electronic signatures, fingerprints, passwords, or any other information that can be used to access a person's financial resources, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes.

Identity theft may be used to facilitate or fund other crimes including Illegal immigration, terrorism, phishing and espionage. There are cases of identity cloning to attack payment systems, including online credit card processing and medical insurance

It's a global problem, approximately millions of identities are stolen every year which leads to financial loss of billions of dollars.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received more than 5.88 million fraud reports in 2021, a 19% increase from the year prior. Reports of associated financial losses topped $6.1 billion, an increase of more than 77% compared with 2020.

In the first half of 2022, identity theft complaints across the country slowed somewhat compared with their pace during the first half of 2021. According to the FTC, Credit card-related fraud is once again the most common type of fraud now that the wave of government-benefits fraud in 2020 and 2021 has subsided.

How does identity theft happen?

1. Phishing: Phishing is a practice of sending emails  pretending to be from reputable companies such as a bank or an online retailer in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers by clicking a link or opening an attachment.

2. Smishing: Similar to phishing, smishing is a practice of sending text messages  pretending to be from reputable companies such as a bank or even friends in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information that can be used to commit crimes

3. Vishing: Similar to phishing and smishing, vishing is a practice of voice calling people to give them fake offers on different products to prompt victims into giving up personal information.

4. Fake Websites: Fake websites often look like legitimate and trustworthy sites to make people more apt to provide their personal information. Some online shopping scams use a bogus website or mobile app that mimics a trusted retailer, including a familiar logo and similar URL. Purchases made on these fraudulent sites will likely never arrive, or worse, scammers may seed the website with malware that infects the victim’s device and harvests personal or financial information.

5. Data Breaches: Data breach is theft of information of a system or company database without the knowledge or authorisation of systems/companies owner.Stolen data may involve sensitive, proprietary, or confidential information such as credit card numbers, customer data, trade secrets, or matters of national security.

6. Carelessness of people: Using public wifi/Charging stations or disposing of electronic devices without clearing the data or not protecting their devices with passwords or accidentally downloading any file or attachment from the internet or uploading the image of their driving license or flight tickets on social media may cause identity theft.

Consequences of Identity Theft?

Once the personal information is stolen, thieves can use it in many ways to commit crimes. Such as:

• Taking a loan on your information, taking the money from your account.

• Buy expensive items.

• Taking over existing accounts of yours.

• Obtained genuine documents of yours.

• Commit serious crimes like murder or money laundring.

How to protect yourself from identity theft?

• Change passwords of your accounts frequently.

• Be aware of phishing/smishing/vishing and never share your personal data to scammers.

• Wipe of the data completely before disposing of your electronic devices.

• Be aware of what you are posting on social media.

By following these steps and being aware you can avoid being a victim of identity theft.