Identity theft has become quite an epidemic in this country. This crime is being committed to millions of Americans every year. Unfortunately, unlike the olden days, where you trusted everyone including your neighbors, today you can never be too careful. Being too trustworthy of other people leaves you prey to having your identity stolen.

You hear about identity theft all the time, but what is it really? According to the Federal Trade Commission identity theft is anytime someone uses your personal identifying information, like your name, address, social security number, credit card number, without your permission to commit fraud or a crime.

So, in simple terms, they pretend they are you, use your information, and run up huge debt, usually credit card debt, all the while pretending to be you.

The Federal Trade Commission reported that in January 2007 there were nearly 250,000 complaints filed of identity theft, which was up 36% from that of 2006 with total losses in the range of a whopping $1.1 billion. In fact, the Federal Trade Commission estimates that an average 10 million Americans have their identities stolen every year. WOW! That is just unbelievable.

And to make matters worse, if you have fallen victim to identity theft, not only were you a victim, but you have the hassle of fixing the mess. My experience has shown that it takes the average victim of identity theft approximately 2 years, and countless hours and hours, to regain their credit and their life. Not only do you have to fight with each credit reporting agency, but with the companies reporting the claims, and then prove that you really were not the one to incur the debt. Let me tell you, it is not easy.

According to the FTC, skilled thieves can steal your identity through a number of ways:

• Steal your mail, your wallet or your purse
• Through Phishing. Phishing is when a thief poses as a legitimate company most commonly done via email to verify personal information, such as your Name, Address, Social Security number, credit card number, etc.
• They steal your information from businesses that already have that information on file.

Once a thief has your personal information, they can use that information to open accounts using your identity. There are many forms of identity theft that is currently being practiced. One form is credit card fraud, in which the person pretends they are you using your personalized information but changes the address so the cards and bill go to a different address. Then they rack up a ton of debt and don't pay the bill. Another form is through bank fraud. This is where someone either opens an account in your name and writes bad checks or pretends to be you and electronically transfers money out of your existing accounts and drains your life savings. Yet another form of identity theft is when they open a cellular phone in your name and run up the bill and then do not pay. Then the phone company is coming after you for payment. And this is just to name a few of the common ways in which someone uses your stolen information.