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In its simplest form, credit fraud involves someone else's use of your credit to make purchases or cash advances. Though often damaging, such cases are normally stopped when you report your card as missing.
No card necessary
Other types of credit fraud involve your account information but not your physical card. Such cases may be more damaging, since you may not realize anything is wrong until you notice unfamiliar charges on your monthly statement. Knowledge of your account number, expiration date, Social Security number and billing address may be much more valuable to a thief than the card itself. In the most advanced form of credit fraud -- identity theft -- someone can use your personal information to take over your credit accounts and open new ones.
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