What exactly is criminal identity theft?
Criminal identity theft occurs when someone uses your identity to evade the law. For example, someone might get pulled over for a traffic violation and use your name (rather than their own), or they may use your identity when pleading guilty to a judge. Or worse. The scary part about criminal identity theft is that it often takes the victim (you) months or even years to find out. And the way you’d typically find out is by ending up in handcuffs in some jail cell one day. How do criminal identity thieves get your personal information? The same way they do with “regular” identity theft. Click here for our general identity theft section index. What to check for within your criminal records: When checking your criminal records, you’ll want to pay close attention to the following types of details: • National arrest and outstanding court warrants • Driving violations and traffic citations • Federal and state tax liens • Federal and state civil judgments • Misdemeanors, felonies, and other cr
