Fight These Common Identity Theft Scams in 2025

Identity thieves work overtime to steal your personal information. Once they gain access to your personal accounts, they can steal your money, pose as you to receive services, send their bills to your address and more. From old-fashioned wallet theft to more advanced artificial intelligence (AI) scams, fraudsters are finding creative ways to gain access to your personal information and finances.

The best way for you to stay safe from identity theft is to know the common tactics that scammers use to snag your data and your dollars. We’ve laid out the top major scams for you to look out for in 2025. And if you do fall prey to a scam, we have the tips and tools to help you recover. Just keep reading to learn these important details!

Social media exploitation

How it happens

Many of us spend a lot of time online, especially on our social media accounts. It’s a great way to connect with family and friends, and to learn more about the world. But it’s also popular among scammers for different reasons.

Imagine this: One day, you discover that someone hacked into your social account! Your friends are receiving messages from 'you' that contain malicious links or requests for money. In reality, this is the scammer, pretending to be you as they use your profile for their own gain.

How you can fight it

• Sign up for an IDShield plan to let us scan certain social media photos, posts, and comments to see if personal information has been exposed.

• Protect your social media accounts with strong, unique passwords.

• Use multi-factor authentication for your logins, such as requiring a phone number in addition to your password.

• Don’t leave your social media accounts open on devices, like at the library or on a friend’s laptop.

• Don’t click on strange links in social messages until you have verified the source.

Pig butchering

How it happens

This is an unsettling name for an equally unsettling scam tactic. Scammers create fake profiles on dating websites or social media sites, pretending to be someone you can trust. They slowly earn your confidence over time before asking you for money or for personal information so they can log into your accounts—like social, bank and more. As AI gets more refined, scammers can use AI to generate even more convincing fake profiles. They may even pose as an old acquaintance that you haven’t seen in a long time.

How you can fight it

Use caution when accepting new friends or dating interests online. Don’t divulge too much personal information. Online attachments can develop quickly, creating a false sense of security with the other person before you actually know them well.

If someone asks you for money or login details to your secure accounts, consider carefully before you decide whether to follow through. It’s usually better safe than sorry in these situations.

Medical identity theft

How it happens

If a scammer gets access to your personally identifiable information, they can then use it to receive medical treatment in your name—using your money too. Let’s say a hacker finds your credit card number during a data breach. Now they can get medical services or pick up medicine while posing as you. You may not catch it until your insurance claim is suddenly denied, or if you find out that you have overdue bills to pay.

How you can fight it

Data breaches are a common way that scammers get ahold of stolen personal information. If you hear of a data breach, check to see if your personally identifiable information was involved. You also want to protect your phone and wallet from prying eyes. Double-check your insurance claims and medical bills to make sure that no unknown charges are accruing on your accounts.

An IDShield Membership provides monitoring for a variety of accounts. Since a data breach could result in your personal information being sold on the dark web, we scan the dark web in search of your data. If we find it, we immediately alert you and provide next steps so that you can regain control before further harm occurs.

Synthetic identity theft

How it happens

All a scammer needs is one piece of real information to build a life using your name. Perhaps you make the mistake of keeping your Social Security card in your wallet, and a bad actor gains access to it. Now that they have your SSN, they can benefit from it and start doing whatever they want while blaming it on you.

How you can fight it

• Keep your Social Security card in a secure location.

• Check your account on the Social Security administration’s website regularly to ensure that nothing suspicious is happening.

• A monitoring and restoration service like IDShield can help keep an eye on the use of your Social Security number for you.

• Use your IDShield Membership to regularly view your credit score and potential alerts about your credit report, to make sure malicious activity is not affecting these without your knowledge.

Identity theft protection that you deserve in 2025

It's exhausting to stay alert all the time. Scammers and hackers plan their attacks on the fact that you can’t possibly keep an eye on all your accounts at all times of the day and night. When your guard is down, that’s when the bad guys strike. That’s why p!

We provide monitoring across a variety of accounts that you get to elect for us to watch over. Our IDShield Membership gives you access to our cybersecurity and device protection; monitoring for identity theft, credit reporting, social media reputational risks, Social Security number use, medical ID fraud and more; and alerts and education on how to protect yourself. If your identity does get stolen, take advantage of our unlimited $3 million service guarantee to cover costs associated with the identity theft restoration.

Walk through the world with confidence when you take IDShield with you!

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Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. (“PPLSI”) provides access to identity theft services through membership-based participation. IDShield is a product of PPLSI. Some of the services provided under the plan by third party providers are subject to change without notice. All Licensed Private Investigators are licensed in the state of Oklahoma. The information made available in this blog is meant to provide general information and is not intended to provide professional advice, render an opinion, or provide a recommendation as to a specific matter. The blog post is not a substitute for competent and professional advice. Information contained in the blog may be provided by authors who could be third-party paid contributors. All information by authors is accepted in good faith; however, PPLSI makes no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability, or completeness of such information.

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