What Can Someone Do With Your ID? Crimes and Penalties

Someone who has your ID or personal information can open credit cards and loans in your name, drain your bank accounts, file a tax return to steal your refund, get medical care billed to your insurance, collect government benefits you’re entitled to, or hand your license to a police officer to dodge a warrant. Federal penalties for identity fraud run from one year in prison for minor offenses up to 30 years when the fraud supports terrorism, and victims are entitled to court-ordered restitution. What follows is what someone can actually do with your ID, what the law does to them for it, and what you need to do if it happens to you.

Financial Fraud

The most common use of stolen ID is straightforward money fraud. With your name, Social Security number, and date of birth, a thief can apply for credit cards, personal loans, auto financing, and mortgages. The debt lands on your credit report. You usually find out when a collector calls or a lender denies your own application, and clearing each fraudulent account is a separate dispute that can stretch over months.

Thieves also open bank accounts in your name to deposit bad checks, run up overdrafts, or launder money from other scams. If they have your debit or credit card information directly, unauthorized purchases can drain an account within hours of a breach.

A newer variant is synthetic identity fraud, which blends your real information with fabricated details. A thief pairs a legitimate Social Security number with a made-up name, date of birth, and address, building an identity that doesn’t map cleanly to any one person. The Federal Reserve defines it as “the use of a combination of personally identifiable information to fabricate a person or entity in order to commit a dishonest act for personal or financial gain.”¹ Because it doesn’t match a single victim’s profile, synthetic fraud can take years to surface.

Criminal Impersonation

Not everything a thief does with your ID is about money. Someone pulled over by police may hand over your driver’s license to avoid a warrant or keep their own record clean. The ticket, bench warrant, or arrest record then shows up under your name. Victims sometimes discover this only when they are stopped themselves and told there’s an outstanding warrant they knew nothing about. Clearing a false criminal record is one of the most time-consuming forms of recovery because it involves courts, law enforcement, and sometimes multiple jurisdictions.

On the lower end, an underage person might use your ID to buy alcohol or get into a bar. It feels minor, but if the person using your ID gets into trouble, your name is the one on the report.

Government Benefit Fraud

Stolen ID is regularly used to claim unemployment payments, nutrition assistance, housing subsidies, and Social Security benefits. These cases often go undetected until you apply for the same benefit and get denied because records show you’re already receiving it. Proving you didn’t and restoring your eligibility can take many months.

Social Security fraud is prosecuted separately. Anyone who knowingly uses a fraudulent Social Security number to obtain benefits, employment, or anything of value faces up to five years in prison. For professionals involved in benefit determinations, such as claimant representatives or healthcare providers who submit false evidence, the maximum doubles to ten years.

Medical Identity Theft

One of the most dangerous uses of your ID doesn’t touch your bank account. Someone using your insurance information or Medicare number can see doctors, fill prescriptions, and have procedures billed to your coverage. The FTC warns that when a thief’s health information gets mixed with yours, “it could affect the medical care you’re able to get or the health insurance benefits you’re able to use.”²

The real risk is clinical. If a thief’s blood type, allergies, or medication history ends up in your file, a doctor treating you in an emergency may act on someone else’s data. Warning signs include bills for services you never received, explanation-of-benefits statements for unfamiliar treatments, or a notice that you’ve unexpectedly reached your insurance benefit limit.

Federal privacy rules give you the right to request amendments to your medical records. A provider must act on your correction request within 60 days and can extend that deadline only once, by an additional 30 days.³ If the provider denies your request, you have the right to submit a written disagreement that must be attached to your records going forward.

Tax and Employment Fraud

A stolen Social Security number lets someone get hired under your identity. Their employer reports those wages to the IRS using your number, which, as the Social Security Administration puts it, “makes it appear that you didn’t report all of your income on your tax return.”⁴ You could face IRS notices demanding taxes on income you never earned, and your own return may be rejected as a duplicate.

If a thief files a fraudulent return in your name to grab a refund, resolving the issue with the IRS can delay your legitimate refund for six months or longer. The IRS provides Form 14039, an Identity Theft Affidavit, specifically for victims to report that someone used their information to file.⁵ If you can’t e-file because your number was already used, attach the completed form to a paper return.

Child Identity Theft

Children are attractive targets because they have clean Social Security numbers and no credit history. Since children under 18 generally don’t have credit reports, the fraud can go undetected for years. A child’s stolen number can be used to open credit, claim benefits, get hired, or rent housing.

The FTC flags several warning signs for parents: debt collectors contacting you about your child’s accounts, denial of government benefits because someone is already using your child’s number, IRS letters about unpaid taxes tied to your child, or a student loan denial due to bad credit your child shouldn’t have.⁶ Many victims only discover the damage when they turn 18 and apply for their first credit card or student loan. Parents can request a credit freeze on their child’s Social Security number, which prevents new accounts from being opened at all.

Federal Penalties for Using Someone Else’s ID

Federal law treats identity fraud as a serious offense with a tiered penalty structure. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1028, the sentence depends on what the thief did and how much damage resulted:

Up to 1 year in prison: a catch-all for identity fraud offenses that don’t meet the thresholds below.
Up to 5 years: general production, transfer, or use of stolen identification documents.
Up to 15 years: producing or transferring fraudulent U.S. government IDs, birth certificates, or driver’s licenses, or using someone’s identity to obtain $1,000 or more in value within a year.
Up to 20 years: identity fraud committed to facilitate drug trafficking or a violent crime, or after a prior identity fraud conviction.
Up to 30 years: identity fraud committed to facilitate domestic or international terrorism.

Every tier also carries potential fines and forfeiture of any property used in the offense.⁷ The jump between the one-year and 15-year tiers matters: someone who uses your ID but gains less than $1,000 faces a much lighter federal sentence than someone who racks up real debt in your name.

Aggravated Identity Theft

When someone uses your identity while committing another felony, a separate charge attaches. Aggravated identity theft under 18 U.S.C. § 1028A adds a mandatory two-year prison sentence on top of whatever sentence the underlying felony carries. If the underlying felony involves terrorism, the mandatory add-on jumps to five years.⁸ Qualifying felonies include theft of public money, bank fraud, Social Security fraud, passport fraud, and dozens of other federal offenses. A judge cannot reduce or waive the add-on.

State Penalties

Every state has its own identity theft laws, and most classify it as a felony. Penalties vary widely with the state, the amount of financial harm, and the offender’s criminal history. State identity theft convictions generally carry prison sentences from one year to 15 years and fines that can reach tens of thousands of dollars. Repeat offenders face steeper penalties in nearly every jurisdiction. A conviction at either level creates a permanent criminal record that affects employment, housing, and credit long after any sentence is served.

Restitution for Victims

Federal courts must order restitution for victims of identity fraud. Under the mandatory restitution statute, that covers the value of any property lost and reimbursement for lost income and expenses the victim incurred while participating in the investigation or prosecution.⁹ That includes time off work for court appearances, transportation, and child care. The court must order full restitution regardless of whether the defendant can actually pay it.

What to Do If Someone Used Your ID

Speed matters. The longer fraudulent accounts stay open, the more damage accumulates and the harder cleanup gets. Work in this order:

Freeze your credit at all three major bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion). A freeze blocks anyone, including you, from opening new credit accounts until you lift it. Federal law prohibits the bureaus from charging you to place, lift, or remove a freeze, and the freeze lasts until you remove it.¹⁰¹¹
File an identity theft report with the FTC at IdentityTheft.gov or by calling 1-877-438-4338. The site generates an official Identity Theft Report and a personalized recovery plan. You’ll need that report for the next step.¹²
Request a block on the fraudulent accounts. Credit bureaus must block any information you identify as resulting from identity theft within four business days after receiving your identity theft report, proof of your identity, and a statement identifying the fraudulent items.¹³
File a police report. Some creditors and agencies require one in addition to the FTC report. Keep a copy with your other documentation.

If Your Social Security Number Was Used for Work or Taxes

Contact the Social Security Administration to review your earnings record and correct any wages that aren’t yours.⁴ If a fraudulent return was filed, submit IRS Form 14039 online or attach it to a paper return.⁵

Once that’s resolved, request an IRS Identity Protection PIN. The six-digit number is known only to you and the IRS and prevents anyone from filing a return under your Social Security number without it. Anyone with a Social Security number or ITIN can enroll, and parents can request an IP PIN for their dependents. A new PIN is generated each year.¹⁴

If Your Medical Records Were Compromised

Request copies of your records from any provider where fraudulent treatment occurred and read them for entries that aren’t yours. Submit a written amendment request to each provider; they have 60 days to act on it.³ Dispute any fraudulent claims with your health insurer separately, and keep records of every communication. Inaccurate allergy, medication, or blood type information in your file is a genuine safety risk, so pursue corrections aggressively.

Credit Freeze vs. Fraud Alert

A credit freeze is the stronger protection. It blocks all new credit inquiries until you actively lift it. A fraud alert only tells lenders to verify your identity before approving new credit; it doesn’t stop them from pulling your report. An initial fraud alert lasts one year, and an extended fraud alert, available to confirmed identity theft victims, lasts seven years.¹¹ Most victims should start with a freeze and only switch to a fraud alert if they need to apply for credit frequently. Identity theft victims are also entitled to free credit reports beyond the standard annual ones, which makes ongoing monitoring easier.

1
Federal Reserve. Defining Synthetic Identity Fraud
2
Consumer Advice (FTC). What To Know About Medical Identity Theft
3
eCFR. 45 CFR 164.526 – Amendment of Protected Health Information
4
Social Security Administration. Identity Theft and Your Social Security Number
5
Internal Revenue Service. Identity Theft Affidavit
6
Consumer Advice (FTC). How To Protect Your Child From Identity Theft
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1028 – Fraud and Related Activity in Connection With Identification Documents, Authentication Features, and Information
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1028A – Aggravated Identity Theft
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 3663A – Mandatory Restitution to Victims of Certain Crimes
10
Congress.gov. S.1810 – Free Credit Freeze Act
11
Consumer.ftc.gov. Credit Freezes and Fraud Alerts
12
Federal Trade Commission. Identity Theft Recovery Steps
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681c-2 – Block of Information Resulting From Identity Theft
14
Internal Revenue Service. Get an Identity Protection PIN