Identity theft signs of pending trouble

Today, if you want to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft, you have to maintain a constant vigil on all of your personal information. A good place to start protecting your financial information is to monitor your mailbox, as the most frequent source of identity or credit theft is mail. Identity theft is a crime that is getting worse each year, and the police are having more and more trouble keeping an eye on it. There are some obvious signals that somebody might be tampering with your personal information; you need to figure out how to recognize them. The average identity theft victim often doesn't find out about it until almost a year has gone by.

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Below are some things you should watch out for to avoid becoming a victim:

• Bills that have not arrived. If you have not seen a bill from the electric company in several months, it could mean that a thief has stolen it and changed the address. Missing mail is a common sign of trouble; you may soon see a number of bills in your name that you are not familiar with.
• Charge card use - Anything you don't recognize (hotel bill from Tahiti?) might be a warning bell that someone else is making use of your charge card. Inexpensive charges from Wal-Mart may not strike you as weird if you often buy things there. Monitor every single charge on your charge card, as many thieves try insignificant charges at ordinary stores before using the account for bigger or more unusual items. Unusual charges on your credit card statement might mean a problem.

• Phone calls from debt collectors or "past due" notices in the mail - If you are getting statements of late bills or calls from collectors for things you didn't buy, that is a certain sign that a criminal might be employing your good name for bad deeds.
• Your credit is good but you're turned down for more - You might find all sorts of things on your credit report that you don't know about. Have you had a credit record check lately? Take advantage of the chance to check your credit report from all three credit agencies and make sure that nothing is wrong. If you have good credit (or think you do) and you have recently been refused credit, it might be a warning sign.
• Passwords that do not work - If you can't log in to an Internet site that you routinely use, it could be an indication that your account has been compromised, especially if you bank online. Criminals have software programs that can help guess passwords for Internet accounts.

Failure to remain diligent might lead to finding out that a thief has wiped out your bank account, bought a house, or run up five thousand dollars in credit card purchases in your name. The sooner you take charge of your financial or personal information, the faster you minimize your risk. As the problem of financial crime becomes more and more common, the possibility of massive financial loss increases. These days, it's not sufficient to guess that everything is all right; you have to take charge and stay on top of your financial information. It typically takes as long as a year to straighten out these problems; why do it if it isn't necessary?