identity theft
28
3.5
- noun
- /aɪˈdɛntɪti θɛft/
:
robo de identidad
- Most do not understand the damage that can come from identity theft and impersonation.
- identity theft victim
- identity theft case
- identity theft scam
E-Verify is not a tool to prevent identity theft.
- E-Verify is not a tool to prevent identity theft.
- Yeah, and the Arg was to raise awareness for identity theft online and stuff like that.
- And there's no question they're not protecting it because it keeps showing up and, you know, spam or identity theft or credit card theft or worse.
Examples
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Some insurers now include coverage for identity theft as part of their homeowners insurance policy.
Blog text (8) -
Being unemployed is bad enough; now I need to worry about identity theft too.
Blog text (1) -
I have a history with identity theft.
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I'm a victim of identity theft.
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So how do you know if you're at risk and keep yourself safe from identity theft?
Blog text (21) -
Identity theft is a crime that largely did not exist until the turn of the twenty-first century.
Academic text (2017) -
Tips to make sure you are socially savvy and not a victim of identity theft.
Blog text (20) -
Issues like viruses, hackers, and identity theft are not something that only affects home users.
Blog text (2) -
Gangs are also engaging in white-collar crime such as counterfeiting, identity theft, and mortgage fraud.
Blog text (9) -
I quickly checked my bank statement and discovered that identity theft had happened to me last month.
Synonyms
577
4.0
Deceiving someone to get money or an unfair advantage
356
1.1
An act of taking someone else's property without permission to keep it
Antonyms
- Specialized
1
3.6
A process of checking documents or fingerprints to confirm someone really is who they say they are
How Harmful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning ‘fraudulent acquisition and use of someone’s personal information’ is directly and compositionally derivable from ‘identity’ (the characteristics that define a person) + ‘theft’ (stealing). This is a regular noun+noun compound describing the act of stealing an identity and is expressed similarly across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would very likely infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The noun identity theft comes from the picture of a thief taking someone's identity—their name, bank cards, or other personal details—and using them to pretend to be that person, a kind of theft. That's why it means 'using another person's private information without permission to act as them'.