Identity Theft & Credit Card Fraud - Is There a Difference?

Identity theft is a growing concern for most Americans.fraud, but also other types of id theft like criminal
To date, its victims average to 10 million a year withidentity theft and medical identity theft. Others use the
the federal and state governments intervening bypersonal information of another individual to avoid the
passing laws to protect individual consumers. While alaw while living openly using the identity of another
lot of people have recognized the threats that areindividual. Some use stolen social security numbers to
being posed by identity theft, there are still very fewapply for legitimate jobs when they can't find one
people who take the necessary steps to armespecially illegal immigrants.
themselves against this particular crime.Who commits identity theft and credit card frauds?
On the other hand, credit fraud is also another growingOne of the many people who commit id theft and
crime in the United States today. The amount ofcard frauds are cashiers and clerks from department
losses incurred by credit card frauds amount to morestores and other establishments. For instance, when
than 10 million dollars, and that figure is only fromyou pay for a purchase, you give your card to the
individual consumer victims.cashier who then "skims" over your card to obtain
But what is the basic difference between a credit cardcredit card information that they can use against you.
fraud and identity theft? This basic difference hasComputer hackers are also famous for their id theft
something to do with scope. Credit report or cardand credit card fraud activities. They often hack into
fraud refers to crimes done by a criminal or thief whoonline databases of establishments and use these for
uses another person's credit card information to maketheir own financial gain. They usually pass through the
unauthorized purchases. On the other hand, identitybackdoor of any website or personal computer to gain
theft covers a whole wide range of methods thataccess to sensitive information that may otherwise be
identity thieves use to steal another individual'sunprotected by people who are a bit ignorant when it
information and commit fraud and other crimes. Simplycomes to computer security.
put, credit card fraud is just a type of identity fraud.Phish-ermans
Credit Card Fraud DefinedThese are criminals who trick internet users to divulge
One of the biggest credit companies defined credittheir personal information through bogus websites and
card theft simply with these statements: When onefake logins. They send email to various individuals
individual steal's another person's CC information andposing as legitimate representatives of certain banking
makes fraudulent purchases and charges.institutions. They will ask you for your personal
Identity Theft Definedinformation and when you reply to their email with the
On the contrary, identity theft has a larger scope andinformation, they will then use these for their fraudulent
uses more than just your credit card information, andactivities.
they focus their energy on not just committing credit