• Identity fraud is a crime.banking card in macro image by Alexey Klementiev from Fotolia.com
  
  Identity fraud is a crime. It occurs when criminals take your personal information, like your name or Social Security number, to commit deception. Generally, a friend, co-worker, or stranger can use stolen identities to obtain money, property or employment. According to Identity Fraud Inc., there are more than 25 types of identity fraud.
  
  

Financial and Employment Identity Fraud

• In financial identity fraud, your personal information is stolen. The criminal uses your information, like a Social Security number or name, to open accounts and establish credit. These accounts can be credit cards, car loans, or mortgages. This is referred to as true-name identity fraud because your entire identity is stolen. The criminal may decide not to open new accounts, but defraud the government. Your stolen identity may be used to receive food stamps, money or health insurance assistance.
  
  In employment identity fraud, a criminal uses your name to get a job. You may not know that your name and Social Security number have been stolen until the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) notifies you about evading taxes or not reporting the appropriate amount of income, according to Identity Fraud Inc.
  
  

Synthetic Identity Fraud

• In synthetic identity fraud, criminals create a persona. This persona is a new identity using your information. This information could be part of your name or Social Security number used with fake information. Criminals can use this combination of real and fake information to open new accounts. According to Bankrate.com, synthetic identity fraud is surpassing true-name identity fraud where your real name and personal identity is used. Unlike the true-name identity fraud, new accounts won't show up on a credit report right away. However, more debt collectors are performing "social searches," according to Bankrate.com, to find debtors and their addresses. So, this means debt collectors could contact you if the social searches hit on your personal information.
  
  

Criminal Identity Fraud

• Criminal identity fraud involves stealing your personal information to be used in or after a crime. The criminal can obtain a false identification card to present to the police. You may receive a notice to appear in court or that you have a warrant out for your arrest. Unfortunately, you may not know until you apply for employment and your criminal record or police report is needed.