Identity crime definitions

Identity Theft and Identity Fraud are often used very loosely to describe any situation in which personal details are misappropriated for gain. The following definitions have been developed by the Home Office Steering Committee to clarify these terms.

Identity Crime
This is a generic term for identity theft, creating a false identity or committing identity fraud.

False Identity
This is a) a fictitious (i.e. invented) identity, or b) an existing (i.e. genuine) identity that has been altered to create a fictitious identity.

Identity Theft
This occurs when sufficient information about an identity is obtained to facilitate identity fraud, irrespective of whether, in the case of an individual, the victim is alive or dead. Identity theft can result in fraud affecting consumers' personal financial circumstances as well as costing the government and financial services millions of pounds a year.

Identity theft is also known as impersonation fraud. It is the misappropriation of the identity (e.g. name, date of birth, current or previous addresses) of another person without their knowledge or consent.

Identity Fraud
This occurs when a false identity or someone else’s identity details are used to support unlawful activity, or when someone avoids obligation/liability by falsely claiming that he/she was the victim of identity fraud.

Identity fraud involves the use of an individual or a company’s identity information to open accounts, fraudulently obtain social security benefits, (in the case of individuals), apply for credit and/or obtain goods and services.

Identity fraud can be described as the use of that stolen identity in criminal activity to obtain goods or services by deception. Stealing an individual’s identity does not, on its own, constitute identity fraud and this is an important distinction.