Identity theft 101: what is non-financial identity fraud?

August 6, 6:24 PMIdentity Theft ExaminerJoe Campana

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There are several types of non-financial identity fraud. Non-financial identity fraud is distinguished from financial identity fraud because the identity theft crime does not involve obtaining money or credit from an existing or new financial account. Some of examples of non-financial identity theft follow.

Illegal immigrants, felons, fraudsters and others commonly purchase identities to obtain employment because employers are required to have a Social Security Number (SSN) to compensate an employee legally.

Stolen identities are used to obtain medical treatment and services, which is called medical identity theft, a potentially deadly form of identity theft.

Identity thieves can forge or purchase fake government identification such as a Social Security Card, Medicare Card or driver’s license. Once these fake IDs are available, they can be used to obtain other types of valid identification such as a driver’s license or passport. The identification can be used to obtain insurance, utilities and housing, to commit crimes from murder to fraud and elude law enforcement by posing as someone else--the victim of identity theft.

Fraudulent identification is not necessary to commit identity theft, just helpful. In many cases employers, service providers and other identity theft pawns request a SSN verbally. For example, today I was at local Social Security Administration Office requesting account changes on my widowed mother’s benefits. I was not required to provide identification. The Red Flags Rule is legislation that requires businesses to authenticate the identity of the person they are doing business with. Enforcement of the Red Flags Rule would help prevent both financial and non-financial forms of identity theft. This law would also help businesses prevent business and workplace fraud.

The most valuable identifier needed to commit all but existing account fraud is a SSN. This why protecting your SSN is so important. It is also why the local government’s negligent handling of documents containing SSNs is disconcerting. Watch the video to learn how easy it is to obtain SSNs from government Web sites.