---
title: "ID theft scams: requests for your ID | URLert"
description: "A request for a photo of your ID, a selfie, your date of birth, your tax number or your address, to “verify” you. Why your ID matters more than your card, and what to do."
url: https://www.urlert.com/scams/id-theft
mcp: https://www.urlert.com/mcp
---

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# ID theft

A request for a photo of your ID, a selfie, your date of birth, your tax number or your address, to “verify” you. Why your ID matters more than your card, and what to do.

An email

From to me

To keep your account open, upload a photo of your driver's license and a selfie: https://verify-account.example

On this page

1. What it looks like
2. How to spot one
3. What to do
4. Already acted?
5. Why it works
6. Similar scams

## What it looks like

An email

From to me

To keep your account open, upload a photo of your driver's license and a selfie: https://verify-account.example

A text from +1 555 0183

+1 555 0183

Text Message

Your benefits application is pending. Confirm your Social Security number and date of birth: https://benefits-portal.example

A “recruiter” in a chat

Before your interview, please send a photo of your passport and your bank details for payroll.

Examples. The names and amounts change; the shape doesn't.

## How to spot one

1. **Documents asked for through a link or a chat,** not in the company's own app or website.
2. **A selfie holding your ID.** That's what's needed to open accounts in your name.
3. **A job, a loan, a health plan or a prize** that needs your ID before anything else.
4. **“Verify now, or your account will close.”**

## What to do

1. **Don't send documents or numbers.** Send them only through a company's own app or website.
2. **If the account might be real, go to it yourself,** through its app or a website you type in.
3. **Still not sure?** [Check the message](https://www.urlert.com/index.md). We open its link on a phone and a computer, not yours, and tell you what it is.
4. **Then delete it.** You can report it to your police or your country's fraud reporting service. Your phone may also let you report it as junk or spam.

   [In the US: ReportFraud.ftc.gov (the FTC's website, opens in a new tab)](https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/)

### Already sent your ID or details?

- [I gave my ID details](https://www.urlert.com/recover/id.md)
- [I gave a password or a code](https://www.urlert.com/recover/password.md)

## Why it works

A card can be cancelled in minutes. Your ID can't, so it's worth more to them.

## Similar scams

- [Jobs and paid tasks](https://www.urlert.com/scams/jobs-and-paid-tasks.md)
- [Prizes and refunds](https://www.urlert.com/scams/prizes-and-refunds.md)
- [Fake sign-in pages](https://www.urlert.com/scams/fake-sign-in-pages.md)

On this page

1. What it looks like
2. How to spot one
3. What to do
4. Already acted?
5. Why it works
6. Similar scams

[URLert home](https://www.urlert.com/index.md)

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