Just today I saw on a local news channel that some farmers from my country got a notice from banks about their due loans which they are not aware of/never took. Some scammer used their identity and got the loan years ago. Now the farmers are trying to figure out what they need to do, going to the lawyer, and doing the rest. No need to say it will cost them money and time for no reason.
This is the danger of identity theft, this is what we are going to deal with on a massive scale in the future.
We who are aware of this, know how to protect ourselves (though we also sometimes can't resist the temptation to click on alien links) and are in a much safer zone. But those who know nothing about this like the older generation or people who have less knowledge will face a huge problem in the future.
Credit cards and social security number/identity cards are easy for the predator to target and get the information. They will never ask you to put your pass or pin. We are not in the first phase where they will withdraw some money by hacking our card. This is the second phase as the experts are saying, they They will simply use your info to purchase something illegal or do other illegal things.
Just think about it how compromised our data is, and how vulnerable we are in this situation. If such a thing happens then we would have nothing but to spend our time, effort, and money to defend ourselevs.
I saw another news a few months ago where some BTC traders were using others' credit card info and selling it to the black market where they are using the info to purchase guns and all. The police and intelligence branch caught the local agent of this group but the international chain which is still out of their reach.
This is what we are heading!
Financial losses seem threatening but to be honest this type of theft is much more dangerous to me.
Keep your personal information secure at any cost, even don't share it with your friends. Always monitor your credit card report, don't allow taking load/debt with the card without your signature. Don't fall for the email trap, click alien links. And always ask questions as long as you are not satisfied whenever you get suspicious calls.
Be safe.