You pay all of your bills on time, when you use your credit card you pay the balance off when you are supposed to; even more than the minimum payments, and then when you try and go buy a car or a house you are declined due to bad credit. Ever wonder how that can be? Well you might have been a victim of identity theft. What is identity theft you ask? It is a form of fraud or cheating of another person's identity in which someone pretends to be someone else by assuming that person's identity, typically in order to access resources or obtain credit and other benefits in that person's name. According to the national association of the attorneys general,
“Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the nation with an estimated 700,000 victims each year and after the victim discovers their theft, they spend an average of 808 dollars to clear up the discrepancies along with 175 hours approx. Restoring their reputation by means of notifying the credit bureaus, cancelling cards, and negotiating with creditors (2006.) Currently those numbers are now even higher at 1,495 dollars in expenses and 609 hours to clean up credit”.
Identity theft happens all the time. This is partly caused because of who you trust and what you put on the internet. In the paragraphs to come we will get into the types and stages of identity theft, who it affects and how you can protect yourself. According to the NIJ (National Institute of Justice), there are seven broad types of identity theft and three stages. The Seven stages are exploiting weakness in specific technologies and information system, financial scams, a motive for other crimes, facilitating other crimes, avoiding arrest, repeat victimization (“classic” identity theft), and organized identity theft. The three stages are; acquisitions, use, and discovery. These crimes are mostly based on opportunity. These thieves can get the information they need through your mail, information put on the internet, going through your trash, stolen purses or wallets, and or in places such as doctors’ offices and even schools when things are left unattended. It does not take long to get the information needed. All the thief needs is a full name and an address. According to NIJ in 1999-2001 “over 50 percent of the victims had relationships with the thief, 35 percent was from lost or stolen wallets, 22 percent was from other resources, 16 percent was though mail, and about 10 percent was from compromises records”. By this survey you should be very careful with your personal belongings, even if you think you trust that person. You never know when they can turn their backs on you and mess up your life. There are so many computer hackers out there you would think that the percent of online theft would be at the highest percentage, but it is not. People in our current society are even more careful on the internet then they are with the physical things. People are ignorant when it comes to believing someone they know can hurt them rather than a random stranger on the internet. Internet Protection website PCs N Dreams gives four guidelines to help protect oneself from identity theft. These guidelines are;
“ Always protect your personal information by only sharing important information (credit card, social security number, etc.) when making purchases from a company of financial institution that you know and trust, Never send personal information to email requests, Verifying any transaction- If a website address looks different from the name of the organization that you are dealing with or if you are unsure that the transaction is secure look for a phone number to call and verify its validity, and catch identity theft early. Check the 3 major credit bureaus at least once a year”.
Sometimes it is hard to avoid exploitation of information because of all the information you need to give to doctors and schools. It is part of life, but when it is not required to use your social security number or any other personal information do not. Be careful and always keep your eyes open to opportunities for theft. Never think that it will not happen to you. Keep all those things in mind and hopefully you will not fall victim to identity theft. If this does happen to you there are ways you can fix it. It will take a lot of time and money, but in the end it will be all worth it. It may take a few years to realize that your identity has been stolen, but when you discover identity theft you should try to file a police report providing specific details on the theft itself. By doing so, you are entitled to certain legal rights when it is provided to the three major credit agencies or to the company where your misused information was sent. An identity theft report can be used to permanently block fraudulent information that results from the theft such as, accounts or addresses from appearing on your credit reports. If the thief made charges on an existing account and you have been able to work with the company to resolve the dispute, you may not need an identity theft report. In 1998, Congress passed the federal identity theft and assumption deterrence ACT which makes it easier for prosecutors to conduct their cases. The act is broadly described so that the act of identity theft is easier for prosecutors to judge. The majority of U.S states have passed legislation on identity theft but do not consistently define the act.
All in all, awareness is the best weapon against many forms of identity theft. Be very aware of how information is stolen and how to protect yourself, monitor your personal information to uncover problems quickly, and know what to do if your Identity has been stolen. Being armed with the knowledge of how to protect yourself and how to recover from this form of theft makes the identity thieves job more difficult and reassures that there will be only one of you racking up the bills on your credit cards.

Works Cited
Ftc.gov. "About Identity Theft - Deter. Detect. Defend. Avoid ID Theft." Federal Trade Commission. Web. 20 Apr. 2011. .

PC's 'n' Dreams. "Identity Theft Nightmares - Protect Yourself from Identity Theft, What Would Happen If Someone Stole Your Identity?" Kids Internet Safety Concerns, Computer Monitoring, Virus Protection, Identity Theft. 2011. Web. 16 Apr. 2011. .

U.S. Department of Justice. "Identity Theft Research Review: Cost of Identity Theft | National Institute of Justice." National Institute of Justice: Criminal Justice Research, Development and Evaluation. 2010. Web. 20 Apr. 2011. .