Identity theft has become prevalent in the United States and around the world, and there is, in reality, very little you can do to stop it. The most common ways that information is stolen are as follows:

• Someone you typically trust (a waiter at a restaurant, a salesperson in a retail store, or a secretary in an insurance business) scans your credit card into a handheld device called a “skimmer” and uses or sells the information to open bogus accounts.

• Someone confiscates, or finds, your applications for credit, an apartment, insurance, or employment and sells it to identity thieves. Dumpster divers know where to look for such applications.

• Hackers break into databases where your information is stored. You hear about this occurring to hospitals, large corporations, and government agencies. In 2003, 8 million credit card numbers were stolen from one company.

• Bogus companies pose as lenders and call or e-mail you (and often the credit reporting agencies), requesting your credit information.

Once they have your pertinent information, they may call your bank and credit card companies and change the mailing address, allowing them to rack up charges or withdraw funds before you realize that you're not receiving your statements. They can also apply for new credit, in which case you may not discover the fraud until a collection agency calls about unpaid bills you didn't even know existed.

Frequently, these thieves will attempt to completely deplete your resources before moving on to another victim. Often the thieves are not rank amateurs but people who have mastered this particular brand of thievery and know far more than you do about maximizing their loot.