One of the fastest growing crimes in the US today is identity theft. It happens when another individual uses your personal information without your permission. The most common information stolen are names, credit card numbers and social security numbers. With this info, any fraudsters can apply for a credit line and use it for his own purpose.

One will not find out right away that their information has been stolen. Usually, a victim finds out of the crime when he notices significant changes in his bills. There will be charges for items he did not purchase or worse, when his attention is being called for by a debt collector.

Identity theft is a serious problem. Some may easily recover from the experience but some are not that fortunate. In most cases, people would spend hundreds of dollars for lawyer services and wait for years repairing the damage. This usually happens when the information is used several times by different identity thieves.

Many are wondering how thieves steal personal information. And how do they do it so easily. Well for identity thieves, your information is as good as cash. This is the reason why these fraudsters have developed ways on how to acquire anybody's personal info. There are identity thieves who would sift through trash to look for documents with your personal information. Some will break into your house or office and look into your personal files. Hackers can even penetrate your Personal Computer and sift through your records.

Another method used in acquiring personal information is by the use of the internet. Thieves will introduce themselves as reliable organization to lure users to provide their personal information on line. Thieves can also fill in forms to change the mailing address of your bills so that they can have access to it. They can also acquire information by literally stealing your wallet and other documents that may contain your personal information. Another way of getting information is through false pretenses.

This stolen information can then be used in various ways. Identity thieves may use your name and other identification information to open a new credit card and leave the bills unpaid. The delinquent accounts will then reflect on the real owner's credit report. They can also change the billing address so that it would take a while before the owner finds out that there are anomalous entries in his bill.

There are a lot of things thieves can do with the stolen information. They may open bank account; copy your ATM and drain your account. They can even avail of license and identification card with your name but with their photo. They can also use your social Security Number and avail of government benefits. They can also get job using your Social Security number, rent an apartment, get medical services and implicate your name for a crime they commit.

We can not just leave our personal information anywhere. Identity thieves are always on the look out for careless folks. It only takes a single access to your account to prove it all.