Credit identity theft can be done in either be through a credit card or a credit line or account. An identity thief may fake your card, or use your account number at a merchant websites and make purchases using your account. Or they can use your online credit to make fraudulent purchases. With this much possibility, credit identity theft even through the years rank at the top of identity thefts. In 2006 alone 8.9 million Americans fall victim to identity theft, majority of which are credit identity thefts. It is necessary to take steps to prevent identity theft and protect oneself from the hassle of fixing the problem.

How to Prevent Identity Theft – Your Top 3 Defense

1.  Keep your wallet safe. Put it in your bag or purse, where it is least likely to be stolen. Note that stealing wallets is the number one method where credit identity theft takes place.

2. Never leave your credit card statements just lying around. All someone has to do is fill out an address change form and send it to your credit card company or call them for an address change for your statements and then your credit identity is stolen.

3. Another way for your credit identity to be stolen is at an unsecure website. To prevent identity theft check for the yellow padlock at the bottom of your screen, this shows that the website is secured. If you don’t see it, it’s better not to type in your account number.

There are other options of course, money order, a checking account, a debit card and an online credit line but of course these pose their own problems as well and as such they too are open to identity theft.

A few of the problems might happen with these methods: money order may be inconvenient to get and it can get stolen in the mail as well, facing just another form of thievery. A checking account may mean more dire credit identity theft consequences, like having your entire account emptied in seconds as well as a debit card where all the money in the card can be taken at once. An online credit line may pose you with a large debt before any signs of trouble.

Of course, you can pay by cash for all your transactions, it is the ultimate protection to prevent identity theft using your cards but in this day and age, it is very hard to stay away from e-commerce, it is makes much more sense to transact many business online.

According to the FBI, identity theft is when someone uses your identity, your personal information pass it off as their own, committing fraud and usually to gain financially. The most common case of identity fraud involved the use of credit card, this is when someone makes use of a credit card, whether an individuals or a company’s card, to make purchases in stores or online. Everyone is a potential victim, it can be a single individual or an entire database of personal information and without credit protection identity theft is inevitable.

Credit identity theft is a type of identity crime where a person uses your credit for his own fraudulent purposes and when this happens, you are the one who gets the brunt of the illegal activity. If you do not protect yourself, you will find yourself in the middle of a messy financial problem.  So you should protect your identity more so if you’re fond of using credit cards, with credit protection identity theft can easily be stopped. You can halt activities of identity theft if you have protected yourself well.

Now, even if we have done our duty and gotten credit protection identity theft can still happen if a company or business we transact with did not protect their database of personal client information. These thieves can also gain access to our personal information from company databases if that company did not invest in an identity protection program. So you should be aware of companies that do not secure their databases.

Identity theft does not only include credit card frauds but it can include stolen social security numbers, stolen bank checks, and the use of another individual’s documents for acts of espionage and terrorism as well as immigration purposes.  Now, with cooperation from the individuals or the consumers and the industry it can be easier to stop identity theft. If we invest in credit protection identity theft can be stopped once and for all.