In case of identity theft, your personal information will be stolen by fraudsters to apply for loans or credit cards with a bank. After fraudsters have availed a loan or credit card, you will receive a notice from the bank asking you to repay the loan and the credit card bills. If you do not repay the loan, your credit score will be affected.
A true story
A few months back a police complaint was lodged by a private employee, Naveen Jyothi, saying that his personal details were used by fraudsters to avail a credit card from State Bank of India in his name. Fraudsters had spent Rs 88,654 using the credit card.
Police conducted the investigation and the fraudsters who were involved have been arrested. Fraudsters had created a fake salary slip of private employees, along with the forged voter ID cards and they had obtained PAN cards by taking attestation from M Moshe, deputy paramedical officer, medical & health department.
After obtaining all the documents, they used to open bank accounts and avail credit cards. Fraudsters had obtained nearly 33 credit cards from State bank of India and cheated the bank to the tune of Rs 36,83,509 just by misusing them.
The Cybercrime team has arrested another group of fraudsters who obtained 17 credit cards from State Bank Of India and cheated the bank of Rs 1.45 crores by opening current accounts in the name of different firms.
In another case, two more people were arrested by the police for fraudulently obtaining 12 SBI credit cards and cheating the bank to the tune of Rs 12.5 Lakhs.
You can identify if you are a victim of identity fraud by applying for your credit information report (CIR), from a credit bureau such as CIBIL.
It is advisable to check your credit report once in 6 months. This can help you know if you are a victim of identity fraud.
If you are a victim of identity fraud, you must contact the bank immediately and lodge a complaint.
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