Identity Theft Facts You Should Know

You probably won't be surprised to learn that Identity theft is the quickest growing crime in the US. Statistics show that it's the leading fraud crime right now, and is unlikely to relinquish its number one status any time soon. Even with all the publicity given to this crime over recent years, the reality of how widespread it is still may alarm you. One quarter of identity theft victims don't know how or where their information was obtained.

There are a number of different locations and forms of paperwork that theives use to get your personal info. IRS forms, online info at places like ebay and myspace, university theft, jury duty and many others are all places your name and other personal information is recorded and may be accessible.

Early detection is key with identity theft - Protect yourself now!

Estimates put the number of illegal immigrants using stolen social security numbers as high as seven million. While this crime is a felony, it can be tough to catch these individuals and almost as difficult to correct the fraudulent information contained in a victim's credit record as a result.

One of the most alarming facts concerning indentity theft is that many of the social security numbers that are being stolen belong to children. This is a major problem because children normally have little need to use their social security number until the age of 16. Therefore, identity thieves can use these numbers for many years before the theft is discovered.

So remember that you always need to be careful as to who you allow to have access to your personal information. Shred paperwork with private information on it. Do not enter personal information in emails or over insecure Internet sites. And don't forget to speak to your family about the ways to protect your identity. As the occurence of this crime seems to still be growing exponentially throughout the USA and in fact the world, we're probably going to have to learn to be extra vigilant for the forseeable future.