A crisis has a way of making people do crazy things. The onset of the global financial crisis left many on the verge of financial breakdown to add to this many people have tried taking advantage of these helpless people. Identity theft is one of these crimes which have burdened many people.

Identity theft has become a prevalent crime especially among those uninformed of its disruptive and destructive nature. By simple definition, identity theft is the malicious acquisition and use of another's personal information to gain something or use it to swindle and do fraudulent transactions. One of the most common motives behind this crime is to enrich oneself at the expense of another. This damage is not only financially but in other aspects as well such as personal and social.

If you are not very keen on securing your personal data, you may not know that you are already a victim of identity theft. You may not know it not until you already receive your credit bill and be shocked to see items that you haven't purchased. It is never too late to be vigilant and start being aware of steps that could save you and your financial accounts.

To start with, you should first look into some of the most common indication that you are already a victim of identity theft. Aside from the one mentioned earlier about charges you would be shock to see in your credit card statement another sign is when you don't receive statement of accounts regarding your credit card and other bank accounts.

When you don't receive these important documents one of the might be that they are already in the hands of the thief. As a victim of identity theft you are also prone to receive phone calls asking for payment of fees for items and even services you have "supposedly" availed. Another warning sign will not escape your attention since it involves being turned down by credit companies which you also did not apply for which you will know after receiving letters of denial. All these might be already happening to you thus scrutinizing your financial life might be good to do right now. If you don't find anything then good for you but you shouldn't be very comfortable with this since identity thieves might strike any time.

But if you find out otherwise, immediately talk to someone from any of the credit reporting agencies and tell them what you have discovered. Ask them to put an alert on your credit accounts consequently you should also immediately close the accounts which the thieves got their hand into. By closing these accounts you have already done a great step to prevent the thieves to cause more harm.

Don't forget to file a formal report to the police station where the incident of identity theft happened. It should include the things that you notice like not receiving of your bank or credit card accounts or getting calls from companies trying to collect payments for goods and services you haven't purchased. Lastly go to the Federal Trade Commission to file a complaint.