It is one of the most unfortunate events to become a victim of identity theft. But living with this misfortune and cleaning the entire mess is more of a burden. The effect is going to last for a few months or even years. It is not just the financial issues and the credit problems and the financial woes that may hurt you, but there are bigger impacts beyond your realization.
Here are the few ways in which the identity thieves can target your life.
You might need help to recover
It is not surprising that the middle-income group suffers the most when they become victims of identity theft and face more difficulties to recover from the ill-effects of this theft as it results in significant loss of money. The survey suggests that a majority of people need help from the government to recover from the impact of the theft. Even if you are not keen to avail the public support programs that are available, you may need to get help from the community, friends, or family when you need help. Although the matter is nothing that should leave you feeling ashamed, it is a reality that everyone should face courageously. Many people hire an identity theft attorney Georgia for assistance.
Hurting your career
Several employers now look at the credit report routinely when assessing the candidates from the job. A report that is triggered by errors due to identity theft can harm your job application. While the employers cannot reject you on the basis of what they view on the credit report without informing you, they can come up with an old excuse for rejection. The legislation to eliminate the practice of viewing the credit report has been proposed in various states, but if you happens to live in an odd place, the impostor can steal your money and job prospects at the same time.
Obtaining a tax bill surprisingly
Identity theft is not just for the purpose of stealing money as one form of theft can also steal your social security number present in the job applications that is generally used for fulfilling the requirements of government residency status. What is even more frightening is that the thieves can work for years behind the scenes to pay their taxes and bills using their name or the name of another victim and the SSN. However, when the tax cannot be paid towards the end, the Internal Revenue Service or the IRS can recover the amount from the actual holder of the social security number. Under such circumstances, the identity theft defense attorney can help the victim to prove that they have not earned the amount.
Rise in the auto insurance rates
A majority of the auto insurance companies use credit scores to decide the rates of insurance or at least in those places where the system is legal. When the score is sufficiently low, it can increase the premium amount by about twenty to fifty percent. While the insurers can reject your profile immediately due to low credit score without informing you, they can use the score to offer high rates without giving you any reason or explanation. The victims of identity theft struggle to clean their credit report are always paying higher auto insurance rates as result and have no way to find out the actual tax of the victims.
The impostors can also pay into the system of social security and create the earning credits that can be used to take out the payments of social security later. The impostors can hardly withdraw the frolic, but the earnings that are credited to the SSN can result in chaos when the actual holder needs to apply to get the benefits.
Destroying your reputation
It is challenging enough to maintain an online reputation when you are the one who is responsible for it. When the aspect of identity thieves are added to it, you can face more stress without even knowing what is happening around. The truth is that identity theft not only focuses on the misusing financial or personal information but often takes over the social media accounts of the individuals resulting in disastrous consequences. So, your online reputation becomes doubtful and is viewed in a negative light. You must try to review the privacy settings of all the online accounts and also carry out research in the search engines to confirm that there is no impostor account nearby.
Chaos in tax return
The ID theft in tax return has shot during recent years and survey reveals that more than a million taxpayers have been affected due to the thefts. If your tax return has slowed down during the recent years, you may consult a fraud defense attorney Cobb County to know what has gone wrong. The attorneys can help you to file the necessary paperwork and make the necessary calls to restore your reputation.
Also Read: 11 Best Geofencing Apps That Really Work For Parents