Identity theft occurs by stealing your name, Social Security number, credit card number, or any of your personal information without your knowledge to commit fraud or theft. It’s a crime with startling statistics, with the most common being credit card fraud.

Once an identity thief fakes your identity they can pretend they are you and invade your existing finances. They can even create new ones, like open a new credit card account under your name.

They might even pretend to be you, call your credit card issuer or your bank and change your mailing address on various accounts, that way you can‘t see the bills as they mount up. A thief can dry up your credit limit fast, but if the bills and reminders are going somewhere else how are you going to find out?

The delinquent account is reported on your credit report and because your bills are being sent to the new address, you may not immediately realize there’s a problem. The unpaid bills damage your credit.

The thief can establish cellular phone service, open a bank account and write bad checks on any account they create. Some illegal immigrants use identity theft so they can legally work in the US, the victim is unaware until the IRS queries why they have two incomes but only claiming one on their income tax return.

So, the best protection against identity theft is awareness. If you gain a knowledge of identity theft, protecting yourself will be easier. And, by doing this you’ll learn tricks like monitoring your credit reports regularly and creating a fraud alert so that any potential creditors have to contact you first.

There are organizations who specialize in identity theft protection, they offer insurance and services to victims as well as people concerned and wanting to be proactive.

Preventing identity theft is a lot better than trying to recover from identity theft, it’s a crime that costs American consumers billions of dollars and yet, protecting yourself can be so easy.

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