Personal identity theft is a huge problem in the United States, and it is a crime that is growing rapidly each and every day, which is why identity theft services are becoming more popular. How can you tell if you are a victim of identity theft? What are the signs?

The best way to find out if you have been a victim of identity theft is to check your credit report. We recommend that you check your credit report from all three of the major credit bureaus at least annually. You are entitled to a free annual credit report from all three bureaus, so you really have no excuse for not doing so.

If an identity thief opens up a new financial account in your name, it will most likely show up on your credit report. This is why checking your credit report is a great place to start with ID protection.

Other tell-tale signs are as follows:

• Receiving credit cards that you didn’t apply for.
• Being denied credit or having to take less than favorable credit terms when you should be eligible for better terms.
• Getting phone calls from creditors that you have never opened an account with.
• Failing to receive your normal credit card bills. An identity theft will change the address on your accounts to cover their tracks.

As you can see, there are some fairly obvious signs that your identity has been compromised. You want to make sure that you do all that you can do so that you do not become a victim of identity theft. And if you do become a victim, make sure to take full advantage of your ability to place a credit bureau fraud alert on all of your credit reports to help you recover.

Fortunately for you, there is quite a bit that you can do to protect from identity theft. Check out the other posts in this blog to see what you can do to make sure you don’t become a victim of ID theft.

Related posts:

1. Anybody Can Become a Victim of Identity Theft
2. Fraud Alerts and ID Theft
3. Ten Best Practices to Prevent ID Theft
4. LifeLock Strikes Back to Defeat Identity Theft
5. Identity Theft Statistics