The Thieves Behind Identity Theft
A lot of consumers take the time to protect them from identity theft and they are aware of the ways in which their identity can be stolen, but what about the person that commits identity theft. Who are they? More often than not, a consumer can be protected all they want, but if they do not know what type of people to look out for, they are still leaving themselves open to the threat. There are three general categories when it comes to identity thieves. Those are: Professional, Medical and Personal.
Professional Identity Thieves
Professional identity thieves are people that a consumer trusts with information regarding their identity. These could be accountants, lawyers, financial advisors, teachers, real estate agents, and even your insurance broker. These people have a legitimate reason to collect your personal information, but what they do with it after that is illegal. H&R Block is a large example of professional identity theft. For three years H&R Block had numerous complaints about their employees committing fraud under customer identities.
Medical Identity Thieves
Medical identity thieves will consist of individuals such as caretakers, doctors, nurses, health insurance specialists and other individuals within the medical or healthcare industry. More often than not these individuals need your personal information for a variety of reasons, but then they can use that information for credit card fraud, identity theft or even healthcare and Medicare fraud.
Personal Identity Thieves
Personal identity thieves are the worst kind for any consumer to have to face. That is because they are people the victim will know. They can be close relatives, a spouse, and your children or just close friends. These individuals do not gather your personal information; they steal it without your knowledge. More often than not, this is the most common type of identity thief out there. This is why a consumer should always protect their personal information, no matter who is around them.