Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes around today and it exists because people are not careful with their personal information. When they get credit card offers in the mail, most people just carelessly toss them in the trash can, many times without even ripping them up first. This makes that person an incredibly easy target for someone who is sifting through trash at the public accessible waste site to obtain that personal information, and actually take up that lender on that credit card offer.

Of course it will get approved, because the offer is usually sent to you as a pre approved type of thing, so all you need to do is accept it. The fact that the thief has changed your address so that the new credit card can be mailed to his bogus address is almost immaterial, since people move and change their residence all the time. The lender is more looking at your credit history and will approve the new card based on that. In the meantime, the thief has a new credit card based on YOUR credit history, and goes up to charge it to the hilt, and then disappears off the face of the earth, leaving YOU to explain the situation to the lender when they call you to inquire as to when you are going to start making payments on your new credit card.

There are dozens of way to protect yourself from becoming a victim of identity theft. Most of them are simple logic but it does not sink in until you read it, think about it, and then realize that there are some very simple steps you can take to protect yourself.

But if you find that you are a victim of identity theft, be prepared to spend a lot of personal time, effort, and yes perhaps even money to get the problem squared away, and it is not going to be a picnic. Part of the problem is that some people who have abused their credit privileges claim to be a victim of identity theft when that is really not the case, so the lender assumes that this is NOT a case of identity theft until you have submitted substantial amounts of evidence and proof, which is not always easy to come by.

The first thing you need to do is contact all the credit bureaus and notify them that you have been a victim of identity theft. A statement to that effect will be put on your credit report so that the thief will not be able to open even more accounts in your name. You should also notify the authorities. This is just a good step in the process and should be done, even though the chances of the police actually catching the thief are very small. You may also want to employ the services of a lawyer who specializes in this type of crime, who can further advise you for the right courses of action you should be taking.

The saying "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" is never more true in any other situation than with the potential of being the victim of identity theft. Take time now to ensure you are adequately protecting yourself, and if you are a victim, do not delay in taking action as quickly as possible to get the matter straightened out, because it WILL take a long time. Jon is a computer engineer who maintains web sites on a variety of topics based on his knowledge and experience. You can read more about Preventing Identity Theft and what to do if you are a victim at his web site at Identity Theft Protection.