What is medical identity theft?
Medical identity theft occurs when someone uses an individual’s name or other parts of the individual’s identity – such as insurance information or Social Security Number – without the victim’s knowledge or consent to obtain medical services or goods. Medical identity theft can also occur when someone uses the person’s identity to obtain money by falsifying claims for medical services and falsifying medical records to support those claims. The essence of the crime is the use of a medical identity by a criminal and the lack of knowledge by the victim. The World Privacy Forum’s report on medical identity theft is MEDICAL IDENTITY THEFT: The Information Crime that Can Kill You. You can find it at the WPF Medical Identity Theft page.
