Identity fraud could happen when a person steals another’s information, open a credit card in the name of the victim without permission and charges purchases to another’s account. This kind of fraud could happen without identity theft such as when the fraudster has been provided a person’s identity information for a certain reason but uses it to commit a fraudulent act.

Identity fraud is a form of robbing another person’s identity wherein someone pretends to be somebody else and assumes the person’s identity. This is typically done in order to obtain credit, access resources and other benefits in the name of another person. The victim of this fraud could suffer adverse effects since he or she will be held accountable for the actions.

The term was coined in the year 1964. It is often but not necessarily the result of identity theft. Anyone could steal personal information without committing identity theft. The US Government Accountability Office study revealed that many breaches have not resulted in known incidents of identity theft. Moreover, the full extent is unknown. Recently, consumer date companies association noted that one of the biggest data breaches which account to more than four million records resulted in just about 1,800 cases of identity theft.