12 Tips to Prevent Identity Theft  Identity theft is very much
in existence and is a federal offense. It is not something that
paranoid people worry about, but is a crime that has affected
more than 250,000 Americans in the year 2009 alone. Of these 17
per cent were subjected to credit card fraud, another 16 per
cent to documents/benefit fraud, 15 per cent to phone/utilities
fraud and 13 per cent to employment fraud. 10 per cent were
subjected to bank fraud and 4 per cent to loan fraud. By
statistics alone, you have excellent reason to be careful.
Identity theft offenders steal some one else’s identity to meet
their own ends; either for economic purposes or for committing
some other sort of crime. These criminals make use of your
social security number, bank account or credit card number,
telephone calling card number and similar identity data. You
could end up losing your money, your credit record, financial
reputation and even social reputation and standing as well if
the thief does some crime in your name