Countless number of identities are stolen every year resulting in billions of dollars of monetary loss to businesses and financial institutions, and additionally costing several hundred million manhours in America alone. Find out how to safeguard your identity, as well as information on what to do if you are a victim of identity theft.

What is an Identity Theft?
Identity theft occurs when someone assumes another person's identity. The identity thief usually does so with an intent to commit fraud or other crimes in victim's name. An identity theft victim is often completely unaware of the fact that someone is wrongfully using his/her name, address, Social Security number (SSN), bank and/or credit card account numbers, or other personally identifiable information for committing fraud and other crimes.

What are the common methods of Identity Theft?
In order for identity thieves to steal your identity, they would need to gain access to your personal records. If is often not as difficult as one may think. Identity thieves may obtain your personally identifiable information from sources such as (but not limited to) the following:

• Dumpster Diving: Unless you are shredding all your personal/financial records, you may very well be making all your personally identifiable information readily available to identity thieves in your curbside trash can, or in that dumpster nearby your property.
• From Businesses and Institutions: They may obtain your personal information from any businesses or institutions that you may have dones transactions with. They often do so by stealing records, bribing an employee, tricking an employee into giving them such information, or simply breaking into their computer network.
• Getting Hold of Your Credit Reports: Identity thieves often do so by posing as an employer, a private lender, a landlord, or as an entity having a legitimate need for having a copy of your credit report.
• Intercepting Your Credit/Debit Card Numbers: Sometimes identity thieves rig credit card processing equipment (aka skimming) to steal information about your credit card or debit card accounts.
• Stealing Wallets, Purses, Handbags, etc: Considering that many people carry with them their credit cards, checks, as well as identification papers (driver's license, and/or other official identification papers), stolen wallets and purses often provide almost everything that identity thieves may need to steal someone's identity.
• Diverting or Stealing Mail: Considering that most people still use the regular mail service to receive confidential documents (such as monthly bank and credit card statements, monthly reports from their investment broker, mortgage statements, etc.), diverting or stealing mail is one of the most common methods employed by identity thieves. If also helps them greatly if they can intercept a piece of your mail containing pre-approved credit offers, new check-books and check-registers, tax records/refunds, or your SSI/Medicaid/Medicare documents, etc.
• Computer Spyware/Malware: Unless your computer is guarded by the latest in trustworthy anti-spyware programs and firewalls, it is not that difficult for someone to lift data off your harddrive. Computer crime is at all time high, use caution.
• Breaking into your property: If any of your personally identifiable information gets stolen during a break-in, such information may possibly be used by identity thieves to steal your identity.

Identity theft can have a truly devastating and long term consequences for the victim. Often identity thieves go on a shopping sprees using their victim's credit and debit cards, obtain new credit card accounts, and then run up charges on their victims' accounts. Sometimes identity thieves may also commit other crimes and fraud using their victim's identity. It is important, therefore, to pro-actively do everything you possibly can (including, but not limited to, regularly checking your credit reports) to prevent identity theft, to quickly discover if your identity has been stolen, and to promptly alert the authorities if you have been made a victim of identity theft.