Criminal identity theft occurs when someone uses another person’s identity to commit fraud, either by providing false information or creating a fake ID. The impersonator can be anyone, even a friend or family member. The victim may be unaware of the theft until they are arrested or face legal consequences.
Identity theft is an act in which a person or organization uses another person’s identifying information to commit various types of fraud. One form of this fraud is called criminal identity theft, which occurs when a person steals another party’s identity and provides the victim’s name to law enforcement. There are basically two types of criminal identity theft. A criminal can commit this crime by providing a law enforcement official with the victim’s name and other identifying information, or he can provide identification with the victim’s name on it.
For a criminal type of identity theft, the criminal may be arrested by a law enforcement official and decide to give the identity theft victim’s name and other identifying information instead of their own. For example, he can provide the victim’s name, social security number and even a driver’s license number to avoid prosecution in his own name. A criminal can impersonate his victim for anything from a traffic offense to a murder charge. Often, the impersonator is sometimes someone who knows the victim well, such as a friend or family member.
Another type of criminal identity theft involves creating a fake ID. In some cases, a criminal can create a fake ID for the purpose of impersonating the victim. In other cases, however, a criminal can access the victim’s private documents and use them to obtain official identification in the victim’s name. For example, you can get a state identification form or even a driver’s license or passport. When he is arrested or otherwise in trouble with the law, he can present this documentation to law enforcement.
In some cases, an identity theft offender may appear in court and serve his sentence each time he is convicted; he can also pay the fines set by the court. In other cases, however, the criminal does not appear in court and the judge issues an arrest warrant for his arrest. Either way, this type of theft is a big deal for the victim. Typically, a victim of this type of fraud is completely unaware that someone has stolen his identity and is surprised one day to be arrested and taken to face a judge because the real criminal has failed to appear in court. If the offender did show up, however, the victim could eventually face the surprise of having a criminal record for a crime he didn’t commit.
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