Medical Identity Theft

While most types of identity theft are damaging to your credit, reputation or criminal record, this one is potentially life threatening. The medical identity thief will use a name Social Security number and insurance information and impersonate the victim to obtain medical goods and services. This will result in false information being entered into the victim's medical record, possibly causing the victim to receive the wrong treatment or medication for a medical condition he/she never had. I don't think I need to explain what makes this life threatening. The worst part of this is that older people are often targeted because they will most likely have some kind of public insurance like Medicare.

Chances are the victim may not discover the scam unless he/she receives a bill, and these cases are often difficult to resolve, as with Ryan's case in this article, because privacy policies would not allow him to see the file or allow him to know what kind of surgery he supposedly had. Ryan suffered a great deal of financial damage while the hospital took two years to waive the fee.

This form of identity theft is clearly the most dangerous to the victim. It should receive more attention and investigation than it does, especially when the outcome can result in physical harm or loss of life due to an incorrect medical treatment.