Lionheart Assurance Solutions

Would you be upset for getting a parking ticket when you hadn’t done the parking – when you’d been at home all the time? Or how about going to the hospital and discovering that your health insurance has been canceled? People who’ve been victims of identity theft run into these kinds of problems all the time. If you’ve been under the impression that having your identity stolen can’t hurt you, you’d be wrong. Identity theft can have some really terrible side effects.

So, what different types of identity theft are there, and which ones do you need to be concerned about. Let’s take a look at some of the different ways someone can steal your identity.

Character identity theft – This is one of the more serious types. Character identity theft could cause you to be charged with crimes you never committed.

Theft of your social security number – Someone who steals your social security number can get all kinds of private information on you. They have access to your bank statements, old tax forms, private records and more. They can take out new accounts in your name, and it’s hard to trace, since the thief has your identification.

Drivers’ license theft – When the thief gets a valid copy of your drivers’ license. If this person commits a driving offense while they have your license, you could end up with points on your license. You could also end up paying for auto insurance you never bought, or find your premiums rising because a thief was in an accident.

Medical identity theft – If someone else has used your identity at a hospital or medical facility, you could find that you’re denied insurance coverage. You could be charged hospital and medical bills that you aren’t responsible, and have to pay for treatments and medications you never received.

Credit theft – The type of identity theft most people are aware of, credit theft often happens when a thief gets into your bank account or borrows under your name. This can leave you in serious financial straits. A thief can apply for big loans, new credit cards, and all kinds of other types of credit, ruining your record and causing real problems when you buy a home or a car.

Now that you know what kinds of problems you can face from identity theft, you also know to be careful. Lionheart Assurance Solutions recommends that you keep track of your belongings, never trust anyone with your personal information, and be very careful of online frauds that try to harvest your numbers for someone else’s use. If you believe your identity has been stolen, act fast. Report the fact to the authorities, get in touch with your creditors and the credit reporting bureaus, and have your credit rating frozen. Get new copies of all your forms of ID and credit cards, and have the old ones invalidated. It’s the best way to take action against a thief.