Identity theft starts with the misuse of your personally identifying information such as your name and Social Security number, credit card numbers, or other financial account information. For professional identity stealers, this information is as good as gold mine.

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Pickpockets earn good money selling your identity to an identity thief. There is no firearm or other weapon involved, so even if they do get caught, the jail time is minimal. Forget about getting your Social Security card, credit cards and identity back, they sell it. Your identity is worth a fair bit of change. The same way the jewel thief knows who the jewel fence is, the pickpocket knows who the identity thief fence is.

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The identity thief or one of his/her crew will simply walk up to your home and steel your mail and they are hoping for bank statements, credit card statements, tax forms, pre-approved credit card offers, new checks and anything else that will allow them to steal your identity.

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Before anything happens to your wallet and identity, protect it by placing the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine. Copy both sides of each license, credit card etc. (do not carry your Social Security Number in your wallet!!). If something does happen you will know what was in your wallet and know all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel.

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If the identity thief has set up phone service in your name or is making unauthorized calls that may be originating from and are billed to your cell phone or is using your calling card and PIN, then don't waste any time, get hold of your phone company and cancel the account and/or the calling card.

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Through no fault of your own and without you even knowing it, you could become the victim of identity theft because of a data breach. In January of 2008 information was released about a back up data tape containing credit card information from hundreds of U.S. retailers and how it went missing from a secure storage facility. Even more alarming was that the tape was unencrypted.

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To protect against identity theft, it is best not to carry your Social Security number in your wallet or write your Social Security number on a check. Before disclosing your Social Security number (SSN) to anyone, first make sure that it is absolutely necessary that they have it. You are allowed to ask pointed questions, don't be shy. Ask the person if some other form of identification will suffice. An identity thief is well on his way in stealing your identity when he has your Social Security number.

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The term is a variant of fishing, and that’s what the identity thief does, they go phishing with increasingly sophisticated bait. Phishing is an illegal attempt to gain your confidential information while you’re seated at your computer. They are after info like usernames, passwords and credit card details and they do it by pretending (online) to be trustworthy financial institutions or companies asking you to enter critical information. eBay, PayPal and online banks are often targeted.

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As a member of the U.S. Military and away from your usual posting, you should consider placing an "Active Duty Alert" on your credit report. This alert will help to minimize your risk of identity theft while your deployed. A persons credit report contains the most vital personal information, including your home address, how you pay your bills, whether you have been sued, arrested or filed for bankruptcy. It is routine for banks, insurers, employers, utility companies and businesses to use the information in your credit report to evaluate your application for a mortgage, credit card, car loan, cell phone and much more. With you away, perhaps on the other side of the world, identity thieves have a perfect opportunity to use your personal information to open new accounts in your name. The thieves will most probably not pay the bills and the delinquent accounts show up in your personal credit report.

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We have written this article for all the Teenagers, and your moms and dads. Millions upon millions of teenagers are using the Social Networking Sites to chat with friends and meet new friends. The majority of people online are probably ok, but the law of averages demands that some are not. Some people are, quite frankly, stalkers and identity thieves. Those of you looking for a relationship may be the most vulnerable for a stalker. The identity thief and the person who wants to do you physical harm intentionally hunts for people who are open, trusting and looking for a relationship.

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When a child is born, a parent may apply for a Social Security number for that child. A child's Social Security number is very much sought after by identity thieves. The child identity thief could be a family member (uncle, aunt cousin), another adult who has access and is allowed in your home, someone who has stolen your mail or hacked into your computer. We think we know who the child identity thief could be, but we don't.

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First thing we want to point out is that the airline pilots, stewardesses, maintenance staff, restaurant staff, baggage handlers, ticket agents and all other airport employees show up every morning to begin their work day so that they can earn a paycheck.

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The term "bot" is for robot. Not the kind of robot you have seen in movies and television shows (does anyone remember 'Lost In Space'?) or the one at the car assembly plant. Bots are now one of the most complex types of crimeware on the Internet and therefore a significant tool for identity theft. Bots are a lot like worms and Trojans, except that they can perform a wide variety of automated tasks on behalf of their master who is usually located far, far away.

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No one person can say for sure how large a role bots play in cybercrime today. Cybercrime will, at some point, make use of a botnet to do everything from spamming to hosting fraudulent Web sites. Internet security software giant Symantec has protected people from bots for a lot of years and has tracked the evolution of bots from basic threats to highly complicated crimeware.

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It's complicated. Cybercrime cannot be described by any one word. Just like crime as we know it, cybercrime has many different applications and can occur anytime and anyplace. Identity thieves and other criminals use several different methods, depending on how much they know and what their objective is. Cybercrime is 'crime' involving some sort of a 'computer' or 'cyber' factor.

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