Identity theft is a major concern that people who uses the internet to transact should concern them about. Nothing is worse than losing your identity and all of your financial information. In the online world, identities can easily be stolen, abused and used to such extent that your career, financial capability, and personal relationships can be damaged. Identity theft can happen to anyone. The worst part is, it can happen discreetly, without you knowing that your identity has already been stolen. In the online world, it is possible that someone is living using your identity.

Identity theft is the illegal usage of your personal information that includes usage of your social security number, credit card account, address or banking account. It is all about performing fraudulent acts by misusing the information and is termed as one of the most prominent cyber acts around. These cyber criminals may open a fraud account in your name, can online purchase, misuse your credit cards and even apply for a loan. They can make you fall prey to other social crimes.

There is a great need to identify the signs of identity theft and the importance of having privacy of personal information. An enhanced cyber criminal may use any of the methods listed below to steal your personal information. Without a credit protection their criminal acts may become easier for them.

Here are some of the online burglar acts that you must know of to protect online privacy:

1. Dumpster Diving- The cyber criminals may fumble through trash and recycle bins specifically looking for the bills or other papers having personal information in it. Extracting information from the recycle bin is as simple as taking a piece of paper from a garbage bag.
2. Skimming- Identity theft also happens when a devious customer service personnel, retail personnel or other workers steal credit/ debit card numbers by using a special storage device while processing your card.
3. Phishing- Such criminals pretend to be an authentic organization and send spam or pop-up messages to seek your personal information. If you fall into their prey the door to identity theft easily opens for them. Therefore, you must not respond positively to such mails.
4. Address change- Thieves fill out a change of address form and divert your billing statements to their own address. If you are equipped with credit protection service, it will monitor your creditand will help you catch such malicious activities.
5. Pre-texting- It is quite similar to phishing when crooks use false pretenses to obtain personal information from financial institutions, telephone companies and other resources.

A complete privacy protection will include an online management tool that will also help you by sending real time alerts.