What is Criminal Identity Theft?

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE

Robert K. Minniti, CFE, CPA, CVA, CFF

On July 7, King5.com reported that King County officials entered two charges of felony identity theft against Gary Wayne Bogle. According to Washington man charged with felony ID theft, by Danielle Leigh, Bogle used his brother's identity to obtain free health care and attempted to avoid a criminal record in his own name. His brother ended up with false convictions and a destroyed credit because of unpaid hospital bills fraudulently entered under his name.

Financial identity theft occurs when someone misappropriates your personal information to open new accounts, or uses your existing bank or credit accounts to make purchases. The above case shows a newer type of identity theft — criminal identity theft — that's spreading across the country and can be even more damaging than having a criminal destroy your credit rating.

Historically, criminal identity theft meant a criminal would obtain a driver's license or state identification card using the victim's information, including their photo. The criminal would provide this identification to police officers when they were pulled over for a traffic stop or while being arrested for a crime. They'd sign for the ticket and then miss the court hearing. Or they'd be arraigned and released pending trial and then miss the trial. Because no one appeared in court, the judge would issue a bench warrant for the arrest of the victim, whose stolen personal information was used by the actual criminal.

Often the victims of this type of identity theft find out about the crime when they're arrested or terminated from their job because of an outstanding warrant. They also might struggle to find employment because some companies conduct pre-employment background checks on job applicants. Take, for example, aCalifornia woman who was detained six times by law enforcement, arrested four times, spent 20 days in jail on no-bail warrants and even had her children removed from her care by child protective services — all because she was a victim of criminal identity theft.

Read the full article, and find out tips for protecting yourself from criminal identity theft, at Fraud-Magazine.com.