How is identity theft different from financial fraud?
The term “financial fraud” covers common credit card, check, and debit card fraud. When a criminal uses your credit cards or debit cards to make a purchase, he or she usually hasn’t assumed your identity. Recovering from financial fraud is usually easy, since most creditors don’t hold you liable for fraudulent charges. These days, financial fraud is increasingly grouped into the same category as serious identity theft. The FTC combined both types in a report announcing that there were 9.9 million cases of identity theft in 2003. These crimes alone cost businesses $27.6 billion and cost consumers $5 billion directly in losses every year.
