Most of the time, perpetrators decide to impersonate someone else so that they can hide their own identity. This usually applies to illegal immigrants, people who are hiding from creditors, or simply those who intend to remain anonymous for a long list of personal reasons.
Getting to know identity theft
Identity theft is most often performed so that a certain person can obtain credit, especially during times of crises such as mounting debts. The period of concealment may extend indefinitely without any detection at all, particularly if the thief is able to gather the necessary false credentials for passing a long line of authentication tests.
Criminal identity theft
When the criminal decides to fraudulently identify himself to police authorities as another person, especially during the point of arrest, then this situation is referred to as criminal identity theft. In fact, there are even instances when the perpetrators obtain identity documents that have even been issued by the State itself, making use of credentials that actually belong to other people. Or, if not that, the criminals can also make use of fake IDs.
Existing Charges
Provided that the subterfuge actually works, any existing charges may be placed under the name of the victim, which somehow lets the criminal off the hook and free to commit further related or unrelated crimes. The victims usually only learn of their misfortune by chance, such as when they suddenly get court summons, finding out that their driver’s license have been suspended because of a problem that occurred due to minor traffic violations. There are also times when the victims experience problems whenever they have their backgrounds checked for employment purposes.
When a crime of identity theft has been committed, it is usually difficult for the victim to clear their record. The necessary steps for clearing the incorrect criminal record actually depend on the crime’s related jurisdiction. Also, it depends on whether or not the true identity of the perpetrator can be found out.
In order to do so, the victim needs to obtain information about the original arresting officer so that they can prove their very own identity through DNA tests or fingerprinting. They may also find the need to attend a court hearing so that they can be fully cleared of any charges.
Expungement
The expungement of court records can also be necessary. The authorities might keep the name of the victim as an alias for the true identity of the perpetrator within their databases. Sadly, however, the victims might come across data aggregators that might still possess wrong criminal records within their databases, even when the records of the court and the police have already been corrected. This means that it is still possible that a background check in the future might still bring out incorrect criminal records.
As if that is not enough, it is also sad to know that this kind of situation is just one example of the different sorts of effects that may continuously affect the victims for months, and even years, to come. This comes aside from the psychological trauma of having been cloned normally engenders.
