ELi5 What can a malicious person do with my ID number (either if they are from the same country or in a foreign country)
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Assuming you mean a social security number or your country’s equivalent, the main thing a malicious person can do is set up credit cards or take out loans in your name, and then never pay them. Essentially, a criminal can steal a lot of money and pin the whole thing on you.
This is why getting a loan from a bank, or setting up a credit card with diligent institutions, can be so rigorous; they want to make sure that the person asking for money is who they say they are, and haven’t stolen someone’s identity.
Unless they have other information like your name, date of birth, address I think it’s probably useless.
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