Identity Theft
✓ Last verified 14 Sep 2026
The short version
Identity theft uses your personal information - PAN, Aadhaar, bank details - without your consent, often to open fraudulent accounts, take loans in your name, or file false claims, with the real damage sometimes surfacing only much later.
Beyond direct account fraud, identity theft can mean a fraudulent loan taken in your name (surfacing only when you're rejected for your own genuine loan application due to unexplained bad credit history), or a fraudulent account opened using your KYC details. Periodically checking your own credit report (see our credit report glossary entry) and PAN-linked financial activity is one of the few ways to catch this kind of theft before it compounds into a larger problem.
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