Top 5 Reasons Why Someone Wants to be You

Why do identity thieves do what they do? What is the motive that they spin out when they’re standing before a judge and jury explaining themselves? What was going through their mind? Why did they do it? Following are five of the major reasons why identity thieves do the things they do:

To Get a Job

Illegal aliens in the country usually come here to find jobs because they can’t find work at home. However, employment in this country requires proof of citizenship, and as an illegal alien, they obviously do not have it. The vast majority of identity theft occurs for this reason.

To Get Paid

The next reason why identity theft occurs is simple greed. It seems like an easy crime, once you get your hands on someone’s personal information, to simply use it a few times to get something you want, like a big screen TV. Identity theft of this type is often a personal crime which surprises everyone who is victimized by it - they usually know the thief.

To Get Away

People running from the law will tend to hide behind the identity of someone the law is not looking for. To that end, they will often compound whatever crime has them on the run with another: stealing the identity of someone else so that they may continue to live and evade the authorities. Identity theft for this reason rarely lasts long and sometimes is not even damaging to the credit of the person whose identity is stolen.

To Get Away With it

Nothing’s worse than a bum rap, and identity theft may well be the reason why you end up with one. Stealing an identity before committing a crime in order to avoid prosecution is not extremely common, but it does happen, though rarely with success.

To Get Connected

A somewhat common and lesser-known, form of identity theft is usually used by parents, who put forth their child’s social security numbers in order to secure accounts for utilities in the home. After perhaps failing to pay a bill on time for whatever reason and having that service connected, it’s all too easy for parents to assume the identity of their child in order to have services restored under an entirely new account.