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If you think identity theft can not happen to you, think again. Just take a look at the statistics of identity theft, and you can see that the crime of Identity theft is closer to you than you think.

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), identity theft affects approximately 10 million Americans each year. Nearly 5% of people living in the U.S. will become a victim of identity theft and the number is increasing every year. The FTC reported even that currently receives reports of theft of almost 40% more identity than the previous year. What is more alarming is that identity theft costs businesses and financial institutions nearly 53 billion U.S. dollars annually.

The most common types of identity theft are credit card fraud, communications service fraud, fraud banking and loan fraud. Credit card fraud is when someone uses your credit card or use your personal information to apply for a credit card. While Therefore, communications fraud offers service with someone opening a cellular phone or utility service account with your information without your knowledge. Of bank fraud a common scam is the thief opens a checking account using your identity and then proceeds to write bogus checks.

For years, identity thieves valuable personal information through mail theft, stealing handbags, or looking for trash to bank statements or receipts discarded credit cards. With rapid technological advancement, most identity thieves now use phishing. The statistics reveal to be the most phishing dangerous of all identity theft because it uses both social engineering and technical subterfuge.

Phishing is when the victim receives an email that appears to come from a bank or other financial institution. The victim is then told to click a link and verify your account information or providing personal identity data. The victim believes that the link to a legitimate site when in fact the identity thief now uses data from the victim to gain access to account information and drain your bank account. Phishers can also take credit cards on behalf of the victim and stealing information from the ISP account.

According to the latest findings of research group Gartner, nearly 60 million Americans reported receiving an email phishing, and about 1.7 million people have been victims, costing banks and credit card companies about $ 1.2 billion in losses.

All these figures and information on identity theft are definitely alarming. To avoid being the next identity theft statistics, it is better to take steps to protect identity theft and maintaining your personal information, subscribing to a service identity theft, and many more. These are just simple steps that take only a few minutes of your time. These moments are really worth considering that you can spend countless hours trying to manage the damage caused by identity theft.

About the Author:

Author and internet entrepreneur Bernard Pragides offers expert advice and tips regarding identity theft. Learn more about identity theft and fraud by visiting his blog at http://www.LifeLockblog.com

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Identity Theft Can Happen to you

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