The Truth About Identity Theft

Steve Weisman

“We’re number one.” That chant can be heard at many sporting events. Being number one generally is a position of great prominence. However, when it comes to scams, being number one is a dubious distinction. Identity theft is and will be for the foreseeable future number one among scams. More than a third of all fraud complaints to the Federal Trade Commission are for identity theft. In 2006, 14 million Americans were victims of identity theft.

Identity theft occurs when someone obtains your personal information, such as a credit card number or a Social Security number, and then either uses this information to gain access to your accounts or uses it to obtain credit in your name and run up enormous ...