What is “criminal identity theft”?
A. Believe it or not, identity thieves can and do get away with crimes by presenting fraudulent identification at the time of arrest. Criminals may even get so far as court and convictions with someone else’s name, after which an unknowing victim has a felony on his or her record. Worse still, if an identity theft uses your identifying information when he or she is arrested, and then fails to show up for court, a warrant for your arrest would be posted, and you could face jail time of your own until the whole mess is sorted out. While criminal charges can eventually be dropped after lawyers become involved and you prove your identity was stolen, unfortunately an inaccuracy on your criminal record can be nearly impossible to erase.
Criminal identity theft is when somebody poses as you, and they actually commit crimes as you. Unfortunately, because the driver’s license is so easy to compromise, somebody can get a job as you. They can drive as you. For example, when a convicted felon gets out of jail; they’ve already soiled their own good name. If someone does a background check on them, it’s going to be very difficult for them to get a job. So the next best thing for them is to actually steal your identity and then get a job as you. Once they get a job as you, let’s say they get a job at a local pharmacy stocking shelves for six/eight/ten bucks an hour, and as they’re working there they see a position for manager available. Then, they get that job as manager. The next thing you know, they have access to the alarm system, access to the safe, and access to order more pharmaceuticals. After a period of time, they’ll rob the place, and steal the pharmaceuticals. They skip town. Now, they’ve been working as you. Who is
