Some shocking recent statistics have shown that up to 19% of identity theft victims only discover the criminal activities 4 years after it began. It may seem impossible to those of us who have not experienced this horrible and invasive form of crime, but it cannot always be prevented. For this reason, there are a lot of people out there who believe that they have covered their bases with good security measures, only to find that strange things are starting to happen.

Mail:

One of the major forms of identity theft starts with mail. Either mail stops arriving completely, strange mail arrives (i.e. credit cards you didn’t order or bills and statements that aren’t yours). This is usually because somebody who is claiming to be you is re-directing your mail or using an old address of yours to purchase goods on your name.

Credit Card and Bank Statements:

If you start noticing strange charges on your bank accounts and an unusually high amount of balance queries you should get suspicious. Banks will have records of exactly where and when these requests and transactions took place.

You are denied simple loans or credit extensions:

If you have kept a good credit record and for no reason, you suddenly find it impossible to open an account or get any kind of credit, this may be a sign of identity theft.

Strange Comments

Statistics show that up to 42% of identity theft is perpetrated by somebody the victim knew or knows. If somebody you know starts paying an unhealthy interest in your financial status or asking probing questions about your banking institutions and habits, it may be worthwhile to double check your balances and make sure all is in order.

Corporate Breech

There are more clear-cut situations. When a company makes a public statement that some of its account information has been breeched, you will probably be notified directly. This does not necessarily mean that it has been used yet, as this information is often sold a few times after being stolen so as to avoid detection.

Employ the help of a credit monitoring service

There are several companies that can aid in keeping you posted whenever any kind of activity happens in your financial accounts or personal name including applications for credit, address changes and even mail misdirection.

There are times when a person needs to look at the abovementioned factors more diligently, if your car has recently been broken into or you have lost a wallet or even an identity document, drivers licence or passport. As a matter of course though, it is a good idea to keep a close eye on these factors regularly. Make it a point of habit to do a thorough check of your banking statements, the names on unsolicited “junk mail” and strange “misunderstandings” like bad credit terms on new accounts. This may not always be enough to stop identity theft, but it may at the very least give you a head start if you suddenly discover that you may be a victim.