Ask anyone whose identity has been stolen and they will tell you that it usually takes years to recover from such a violation. This personal offense goes far beyond using someone else’s name to make a substantial purchase at a department store. In addition to credit card charges, bank account withdrawals, social security manipulation, and a host of other ways your life would be affected, unrelated crimes can also be committed, on your behalf, of for which you may be held liable.

It’s pretty safe to assume that when you hear the phrase “identity theft,” you immediately know what is being discussed. However, not many people know that criminal identity theft takes this type of crime a step beyond simply racking up charges on someone else’s credit cards.

In fact, criminal identity theft is the term used when an individual impersonates someone else when confronting a law enforcement officer. In other words, if someone, who has assumed their identity, is arrested or approached in some way by a law enforcement officer and offers some form of identification that identifies them by name, then the line of identity theft has been crossed to criminal identity theft.

By obtaining vital documents such as a driver’s license, social security card, and other legal documents in your name, they can effectively “become” you. In some cases, these people build a life for themselves in some other part of the world, and unless a red flag is raised on their part, they may never know it until something drastic happens, like an arrest warrant is issued. in his country. Name.

Getting a job, buying a home, getting a loan, and any other area you can think of will be affected if such an event occurs. In most cases, a specific set of circumstances is needed to bring about the knowledge that criminal identity theft has been committed. Some examples of this would be the discovery that there is a criminal record in your name that makes you ineligible for a particular job, the denial of a loan or application for a mortgage as a result of unmet debt that you did not incur, or an arrest. as a result of a court order pending in your name when you are simply pulled over for a routine traffic violation or a seat belt check.

The real tragedy here is that the burden of proof falls on the victim when it comes time to clear up these issues, which can take years in the legal system and cost thousands of dollars as the court clock continues to count down the minutes until you are able to show that he is, in fact, who he claims to be and that he did not commit the crimes for which he has been accused. This particular type of criminal activity occurs more frequently than you might imagine and has devastated the lives of countless innocent people.

If you must be the subject of criminal identity theft, here are just a few of the things you can do to begin the process of clearing your name within the legal system:

• Report the misidentification to your local law enforcement agency

• File an official phishing report

• Gain insight into the particular laws within your state regarding criminal identity theft and your rights as a victim

• Insist that the law enforcement agency taking the phishing report submit a copy to authorities in the state or county where the perpetrator resides.

• Contact the Department of Motor Vehicles, in case your license has been violated.

• Check to see if your state has victim rights groups or other advocates that can help you win your case

• Hire an attorney who has experience in criminal identity theft
  

Don’t let anyone ruin your good name – take steps to protect your documents and other means of identification. Otherwise, there may be an imposter who will laugh all the way to the jail cell – yours.