How to Stop Yourself from Being Victim of Identity Theft

Identity theft is one of the most common crimes committed today. While technology has made our lives easier, it has also made us more vulnerable like never before. Find out more about this crime and how you can prevent it from happening to you.

By its general definition, identity theft is any crime wherein your personal information is unlawfully obtained and used for purposes of financial profit. Used interchangeably with identity fraud, these can encompass a wide range of activities including racking up huge amounts of credit card purchases and debt and illegally withdrawing money from bank accounts. Your telephone number, credit card number and social security number are some of the vital information that perpetrators of identity theft use to be able to carry out the crime.

By knowing the ways in which identity theft can take place, you can be more wary and alert of the situations wherein you can be vulnerable to becoming a victim. For instance, people can be shoulder surfing, simply looking at the passwords that you input while you are at an ATM machine or computer. They may also be listening in when you give your credit card number and other identifying information while you are on the phone talking.

You also need to destroy all incriminating documents that may contain vital information or keep them in a safe and secure place. Some culprits of identity theft may actually go through people's trash to find credit card statements, billing statements and other kinds of information. Even pre-approved credit cards can be used by perpetrators of identity theft to make purchases without your knowledge, so make sure that you cancel these with the credit card company.

Identity Theft - What the Government Is Doing

The United States government has enacted legislation through the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act. Because of this bill, people found guilty of identity theft may be sentenced to not more than fifteen years imprisonment, appropriate fines and forfeiture of any personal assets and property that may have been used in committing the crime.

Recent statistics from 2003 to 2006 have shown that as people become more aware of the possibility of identity theft happening to them, the number of individual cases have dropped. The only downside to this is that the amount of money involved in identity theft has risen considerably and now amounts to 56.6 billion dollars in the United States. From an average of 5,249 dollars per person per case of identity theft in 2003, it has now increased to 6,383 dollars in 2006.

The average time that you will waste just trying to resolve a case of identity theft, finding the perpetrator and seeking justice can be as much as six hundred hours. More than seventy percent of cases of identity theft actually involved a credit card. With such staggering statistics, you need to take matters into your own hands by protecting yourself through a need to know basis. Do not give out any of your personal information unless it is absolutely necessary for the transaction. If you are traveling and there is no one at home, ask your post office to hold your mail so that your credit card statements and other sensitive information transmitted through the post does not fall into the wrong hands.

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