How is ID Theft carried out, or how can someone steal my identity?
ID Theft can be done by anyone who gains access to your personal and financial information: the waiter at the restaurant who takes your credit card, an employee of your bank, a roommate who fumbles through your bank statements, or the stranger who goes through your trash or finds your lost wallet - all of them can potentially use your financial or personal data to carry out Identity Theft. See section ID Theft for more information.

What can I do to prevent ID Theft?
There’s a number of steps you can take to reduce your chances of becoming a victim, but in this day and age it’s impossible to completely eliminate your risks. Click ID Theft for more information.

How prevalent is ID Theft?
Millions of people become victims of Identity Theft in the US every year. Here’s one statistic: According to a recent FBI report, identity theft accounted for $52.6 billion in losses in 2006 and affected more than 9.91 million Americans. See Facts & Stats for more information.

Who is more at risk of ID Theft?
Anyone who is not aware of the dangers of ID Theft can potentially fall victim. All of the criteria below have varying degrees of risk. Note that risk simply means that there’s a “chance”, it’s not 100% - just because you fall into any one of these categories does not necessarily mean you will have your identity stolen. It simply means there’s more risk compared to the average person. It also means that the more of these categories apply to you, the higher your risk. So, if you live with 1 or more roommates, AND take frequent trips, AND have an unprotected mail box, then you’re asking for it! Here’s just a few criteria that can put you at risk of identity theft, in no particular order:

• college or university student
• someone who uses their credit & debit cards frequently
• someone who has ever lost any identifying document such a driver’s license, ID card, passport, Social Security card, etc.
• someone with an unlocked or unprotected mail box
• someone who lives or has lived with roommates
• someone who travels frequently
• someone who has changed their residence recently or moves frequently
• someone who has never checked his or her credit report

To learn more about this new and growing type of fraud, and for information on how to protect yourself against Identity Theft, visit section ID Theft.