One of the most common ways an identity thief steals your identity is by first stealing your mail. That is why everyone should have a mail box that locks. Most new homes are now built with mail boxes that lock and if you have one of the old kind that you just pull open, you should upgrade to a locking model. If an ID thief is successful in stealing your mail, you may never even know what he has stolen. Until it is too late, that is.



Do you get those pre-approved credit card applications in the mail at least once a week? Those are exactly what an ID thief is after. Identity thieves will take your credit card application and change the address to their address or PO box and then send it in. They are hoping to get a brand new credit card sent to them in your name, without you even knowing it.

That is the reason why those pre-approved credit card application everyone gets in the mail are so bad and should be banned. They have personal information already on them and you don't even have to fill them out! It is terribly annoying to get them so often and I have to make sure I shred them and not just throw them away.

You should pay particular attention to all junk mail that has any of your personal information on it. You need to make it as hard as possible for identity theft to happen by making sure you shred that kind of mail. An ID thief is always on the lookout for something that he can use to pretend to be you and send in. Department store credit applications are a similar type of mail that you need to make sure you shred.

It is a much different world we live in today than just 10 years ago. We all now seem to have multiple accounts online and so many passwords a normal person has to write them all down just to keep track. We have multiple credit cards as well and many have more than one bank account. We pay our bills online and it can all be overwhelming.

It is for this reason that it is more important than ever to keep track of all your accounts and passwords and protect them from prying eyes and thieves. The "prfession" of being an identity thief is now more prevalent than ever because there are so many new ways an ID thief can get access to your information. The only way to fight back is to be aware of everything you do and make sure you try your best to keep your private information hidden.