The words, Identity Theft probably send a chill down your bones. Even to imagine being a victim of this crime, is threatening. But unfortunately, when people are careless enough, identity theft can go undetected for months or even years until the victim realizes the damage done to their credentials. Due to their busy schedule, people often forget to review new charges that have been added to their accounts. This perhaps with most of us, we usually pay our bills online or have auto pay arrangements through credit cards but neglect to review monthly statements.

It is a routine work, we make our online monthly payments on time, receive a confirmation e-mail from our lender stating payment had been made and then, don't think about it. This negligent attitude becomes the hidden door for cyber criminals, who have become more interested in this type of crime. In order to create a false identity, specific personal information is always required. Your hacked driving license can be most suitable for identity theft. Suppose, a person's driving license gets suspended for drunk driving; all that the thief needs to do, is get that valid driving license number to use on a false document.

Your social security number is also in the vulnerability list for identity theft. With more and more illegal entries in a country and requiring a social security number to get a job, you social security number is at risk. These numbers are also rarely checked for scam. So by the time you realize that you are at a loss, it is too late. The scammers may use it to open new credit card accounts and the most difficult thing is to know what has happened because the monthly billing statements go wherever the imposter wants.

With minimum of two pieces of personal information, your medical insurance information can be leaked and even accessed to get medical treatment coverage. Identity theft might also lead to your arrest for failing to appear in court, even when the case is just a minor traffic violation. But more commonly financial loss is what pops up when you hear of identity theft. A credit card can be easily hacked to get money.

A careless customer fails to consider the mistake in providing his personal information to an unknown source either through e-mails or phone calls. Thus, be alert and don't give out any information to a financial institution where you do not have an account. In addition, remember to check your credit report to ensure that no one has accessed your credit card number.