Identity theft - How to spot trouble

There are some noticeable signs that someone might be compromising your personal information; you need to figure out how to recognize them. Identity theft is a problem that is becoming worse each year, and the police are having more and more trouble keeping up with it. The typical victim of a financial scam often doesn't find out about it until nearly a year has gone by. Today, if you want to prevent becoming a victim of identity theft, you have to keep a constant watch on your personal or financial information. A good place to start protecting your personal information is to watch your mailbox, as the most common source of identity theft is mail.

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Here are a number of things you should watch out for to avoid being victimized:

• Credit card use - Peculiar charges on your bank card statement might indicate a problem. Simple charges from Sears may not strike you as odd if you regularly buy things there. Keep an eye on every single purchase on your card, as many identity thieves try insignificant purchases at common stores prior to using the card for bigger or more exotic purchases. Anything you do not recognize (hotel bill from Buenos Aires?) might be a warning bell that a stranger is using your credit card.

• Your credit history is excellent but you're declined for more - If you have good credit (or think you do) and you have recently been denied credit, it might be a warning signal. You might find all kinds of things on your credit report that you don't know about. Take advantage of the opportunity to look at your credit report from all three credit bureaus and make sure that nothing is amiss. Have you had a credit report check lately?
• Passwords that don't work - Criminals have software programs that can help guess passwords for online accounts. If you can't log in to an Internet site that you often use, it could be a sign that your account has been compromised, especially if you bank online.
• Phone calls from debt collectors or "overdue" notices in the mail - If you are receiving notices of delinquent bills or calls from collectors for things you didn't purchase, that's a certain signal that a stranger might be using your good name for bad deeds.
• Bills that haven't arrived. If you have not seen a billing statement from the cable TV company in several months, it could indicate that a stranger has intercepted it and changed the address. Missing mail is a common indication of trouble; you could soon end up with a lot of bills in your name that you are not aware of.

Failure to keep diligent might lead to finding out that someone has depleted your bank account, purchased a home, or run up $5000 in credit card purchases while posing as you. The faster you take charge of your financial information, the sooner you reduce your vulnerability. As the problem of financial crime becomes more common, the potential of substantial financial loss grows. These days, it is not enough to suppose that everything is all right; you have to take charge and stay on top of your financial or personal information. It often takes months of time to fix these problems; why do it if you don't have to?