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The digital revolution has helped give rise to some amazing advances. Alas, it has also created a new plethora of opportunities for criminals and identity theft represents one area where crime seems to be paying for the most part.

Just what is identity theft? As the name suggests, it is the theft of the personal information of another. The theft would be incomplete unless the information was used for some nefarious process, and it is in many different ways.

Stolen credit cards are the most common form of identity theft, right? Nope. Misused credit card accounts are the result of the swiping of the real prize. What is the real prize? Social security numbers, the gateway to your finances.

Whether you realize it or not, social security numbers are the foundation of our financial society. You must have one to play. By play, I mean open credit card and bank accounts, take loans and so on. This is exactly what happens.

Criminals make great capitalists. They can find multiple ways to use ill gotten gains to make a profit. A new approach is to sell your social security number to illegal immigrants. The immigrants often need to show them to hold a job.

If your social security number is sold to an illegal immigrant, you could be in for a really nasty surprise. Why? Well, the money that person earns will be report to the IRS and it will expect taxes to be paid. When they aren't, guess who gets called?

Another area where your social security number can be misused is at the bank. The thief will open a bank account using the number. The thief then writes bad checks against the account until the bank closes it.

Finally, identity thieves need to chat by phone frequently, but why should they pay for this when you will? Yes, they use your information to buy cell phones and open new accounts with the mobile providers.

As with any crime, identity theft is not something you want to experience. Unlike other crimes, you rarely realize you are a victim until things are really bad. Theives have bills sent to addresses other than yours, so you don't know it is occuring.

So, how do most people discover they have been hit? They start getting calls from credit bureaus or collection companies. Alternatively, they find all their credit cards shut off and their bank account frozen.

Identity theft is one of the more aggravating crimes out there. If it happens to you, expect to spend months trying to get the mess worked out. Businesses and the government are getting better at dealing with it, but it is still a nightmare.

This Data Recovery article is provided by Articleteller - The Free Article Directory http://www.articleteller.com

Learn why you should be concerned about identity theft at ArticlesonIdentityTheft.com.

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