By now, every adult should know that identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America. It has become an epidemic, leaving everyone at risk, including children, adults, the elderly, those with good credit, bad credit, or no credit. And, to make matters worse, most people do not know if their identity has been stolen. The biggest misconception is that identity theft only affects or involves your credit. If you, too, believe that identity theft only affects or involves your credit, then you might want to keep reading.

The best advice for prevention is always keeping safety pointers in mind wherever you go. You may opt to create a wall for privacy and protection by filtering what information to share, when to share it and to whom it can be trusted to. The fact is, you must not trust anyone with fragile information since thieves of identity theft can be anyone close to you.

One of the most effective ways to stop the loss of personal information is to shred all documents with your name or other identifying information on it. Documents you must shred include bank and credit card statements, pre-approved credit offers, receipts, utility bills, phone bills, etc. A good rule of thumb is this: if it has your name on it, don’t throw it in the trash – shred it.

For some reason, Americans often feel the need to carry their social security cards in their purse or wallet. Not only is this extremely unsafe in regards to an identity theft risk, but it’s simply unnecessary. Keep your social security card and number stored away in a safe, preferably locked, place.

Identity theft is a chameleon, taking many forms. Sometimes a stolen identity does not lead to other crimes. Many database break-ins expose the information of hundreds of thousands of people, most of whom are never actually victimized. Sometimes a criminal will clone the victim’s identity to hide from authorities. This is common among pedophiles and ex-convicts. Sometimes a stolen identity is used to obtain medical treatment (this can lead to confusion about medical records).

There are no good old days like people who have never lived thru that era like to romanticize. Thieves and scam artists have always existed. Yet for countless seniors there was a degree of decorum that is almost foreign to many of us in modern society. In other words the trust factor was lot higher and the cynicism not so widespread. It is hard to break habits like that. And when the scammers start laying on the sugar talk and feign strong personal interest, more than a few elderly people find that an irresistible combination.

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