As far as I understand, the major effect of identity theft on the person is the problems with their credit score and thus all kinds of other credit-related acti

As far as I understand, the major effect of identity theft on the person is the problems with their credit score and thus all kinds of other credit-related activities while the issue is being resolved. I think that at least in parts of Europe the legal solution is a requirement that lenders must get these fraudulent loans off the credit reports within a fairly strict time limit when they're contested in a simple, standardized way, so even if some investigation takes a long time, that does not affect your creditworthiness during that time.