15 types of identity theft, including examples

1. Financial Identity Theft

Financial identity theft is a crime where someone uses personal information such as bank account or credit card numbers to steal money, make unauthorized purchases, or take loans out fraudulently.

Effects of Financial Identity Theft include:

• Unexpected purchases on your statements
• New accounts appear on your credit report
• Online bank account lock-outs
• Credit score drops

2. Medical Identity Theft

Medical identity theft happens when someone steals your personal information and poses as you to access healthcare services. Thieves might use this information to get treatment, access prescription medication, or submit fraudulent bills to insurance companies.

Effects of Medical identity theft include:

• Bills for treatment you didn’t receive
• Patient notes that don’t make sense
• Unavailable medical treatment because you hit your benefit limits

3. Synthetic identity theft

Synthetic identity theft is a type of fraud where a criminal combines real and fake personal information to create a new, fictitious identity.

Effects of Synthetic identity theft include:

• High numbers of new credit inquiries
• Unsolicited offers for credit cards or loans
• Debt collection calls

4. Employment identity theft

Employment identity theft occurs when someone steals personal information, such as your Social Security number, to apply for a job under your name. This act can damage your credit, make finding new jobs difficult, and even lead to tax issues or legal trouble.

Effects of Employment identity theft include:

• Receiving job offers you didn’t apply for
• Being contacted by the IRS about income you didn’t earn
• Seeing unknown jobs on your credit report or background checks

5. Unemployment identity theft

Unemployment identity theft occurs when someone uses your personal information to file a fraudulent unemployment claim. The implications can include tax issues, financial damage, or legal trouble.

Effects of Unemployment identity theft include:

• Receiving a 1099-G IRS form or getting contacted by the IRS about government benefits you didn’t receive
• Receiving benefits you didn’t apply for
• Getting contacted by unemployment agencies out of the blue

6. Social Security identity theft

Social Security identity theft is when someone illegally uses your Social Security number to commit fraud. This can facilitate the various types of identity fraud we’ve mentioned, like opening new credit accounts or obtaining employment in your name, plus many others.

Effects of Social Security identity theft include:

• Getting a new Social Security card in the mail
• Being denied government benefits you should qualify for
• Having your wages garnished for unfamiliar debts

7. Tax identity theft

Tax identity theft is when someone uses your personal information to file a fraudulent tax return or commit other tax scams. This may be to claim a refund using your name, but the fraudster will change the payment details so they receive the refund.

Effects of 7. Tax identity theft include:

• The IRS auditing your tax return
• Receiving a letter saying someone filed a fraudulent tax return in your name
• The IRS denying your tax refund

8. Child identity theft

Child identity theft happens when someone uses a minor's personal information to open new accounts or commit fraud. This can go undetected for years, causing significant financial damage later in life.

Effects of Child identity theft include:

• Encountering difficulties enrolling your child in school
• Getting a letter from the IRS claiming your child owes taxes
• Bills arriving in your child’s name

9. Senior identity theft

Senior identity theft occurs when a scammer uses an older person's personal information without permission. Criminals may target this age group with elder scams because of their perceived wealth and vulnerability, using tactics like phishing emails, phone scams, and familial impersonation.

Effects of Senior identity theft include:

• Changes to benefits like Social Security and Medicare
• Unexpected bills
• New accounts on a victim’s credit report

10. Family identity theft

Familial identity theft occurs when someone close to a victim—such as a family member or friend—uses the victim’s credit cards or personal information to make unauthorized purchases or commit fraud. When the victim disputes the charge, the financial institution may pursue a fraud case against them, especially if they try to hide the perpetrator's identity out of loyalty.

Effects of Family identity theft include:

• Difficulty accessing accounts
• Unexplained bills or transactions
• Debt collection notices
• Overly personal questions or unusual behavior from family or friends

11. Account takeover fraud

Account takeover fraud occurs when a cybercriminal gains unauthorized access to an online account, such as a bank account or social media profile. Scammers can achieve this through techniques like phishing, malware, or data breaches. Once they gain access, the criminal can use the account to make fraudulent transactions, impersonate you, or even take over other accounts linked to the compromised one.

Effects of Account takeover fraud include:

• Unauthorized account activity
• New credit card charges
• Unexpected account closures or lock-outs

12. Biometric identity theft

Biometric identity theft happens when a hacker manages to access your unique physical or behavioral characteristics like fingerprints, retina scans, facial scans, or voice recordings. They could then use this to impersonate you or access your accounts.

Unlike traditional passwords, you can’t change biometric data, so it’s even more important for you to protect it.

Effects of Biometric identity theft include:

• Device malfunctions
• Unexpected account access
• Unusual bank charges

13. Home title fraud

Home title fraud occurs when someone illegally transfers ownership of your property to themselves. They usually do this by stealing your personal information and forging documents. Once they have control of the title, they could potentially take out loans against your home’s equity or rent it out without your knowledge.

Effects of home title theft include:

• Receiving a foreclosure notice
• Getting unexpected property-related mail
• Having difficulty selling your home because of an ownership dispute

14. Mortgage fraud

Mortgage identity theft occurs when a scammer uses your data to secure a mortgage. They may steal your identity by hacking into your accounts, phishing for information, or even dumpster diving. This can lead to significant financial damage—you may be responsible for the loan, and it could cause significant knock-on effects.

Effects of mortgage fraud include:

• Receiving unrequested mortgage offers
• Receiving documents about a property you didn’t buy
• Being contacted by a mortgage lender or debt collector

15. Criminal identity theft

Criminal identity theft happens when someone uses another person's information to try to avoid being arrested or charged with a crime. Or, upon arrest, they may claim another identity to try to avoid an arrest record or a warrant in their name.

Both can lead to serious consequences for the person who unknowingly became involved, including a criminal record, difficulty finding employment, and financial losses.

Effects of Financial Identity Theft

• Being denied credit or services
• Being arrested and/or detained for a crime you didn’t commit
• Receiving a crime alert about yourself from a law enforcement agency