In the United States, there is a crime called identity theft. Very much different from credit card theft, this crime is characterized by the stealing of pertinent personal information like your Social Security number, mother’s maiden name and even the birth date. All these information will be used by the identity thief to apply for new accounts under your name. Some of these unscrupulous individuals will even use your Social Security number to get work and all the income they earned will naturally be reported to the Internal Revenue Service, causing problems for you.

Identity theft is something that is accomplished through old-fashioned stealing. The thief steals your purse or wallet and obtains information from everything inside it. Lately, there is a method by which identity theft can be accomplished through skimming. This is done by swiping your credit card through another reader, aside from the one used by the retail store, where you used your card. There are also instances when information you wrote in legal or official documents were obtained illegally through database hacking Sometimes, a simple credit card application form is enough for these thieves.

To make matters worse, you would not have any clues that you are being impersonated until it is too late. You will be harassed by different lending institutions, collection agencies and even the IRS for things that you supposedly committed. In order for you to avoid problems that come with identity theft, you should check the following:

Credit Card Statements
Some people do not itemize their purchases and simply assume that the credit card statement they received is accurate. Credit card companies usually allow a certain number of days for their clients to dispute the entries in the billing statement. If this period expires, they will assume that all is correct. As a victim of identity theft, you will notice purchases that are suspicious. These items should be reported at once so that your account will be frozen and no more transactions can be made by the thief.

Bank Account Statements
If you have the habit of throwing everything that comes from your bank, thinking they are promotional items, change this at once. Sometimes, a simple letter could inform you that you have recently become a new client for a particular bank even if you have not opened by account with them. Again, the bank should be notified immediately so that the account will be closed.

Credit Report
For convenience, checking your credit report regularly can warn you of identity theft not only where you live but also in other places. There are cases when the thief uses your personal information outside the state where you reside. Law suits can be filed against you without your knowledge and you will only know about it through your credit report. This is why many financial experts encourage everyone to get a copy of this report at least once a month in order to monitor any identity theft activities.

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