Top Signs You May Have Been a Victim of ID Theft

 A credit card being swiped

You Could Be a Victim and Not Even Know It

By Lita Epstein, credit and debt expert, WalletPop.com

When even the announcer of the The Price Is Right is a victim of identity theft, you know the crime can happen to anyone. Rich Fields, of "Come on down" fame, reportedly had $71,000 stolen and had to freeze his accounts ' including his direct deposit of his pay -- while he tries to recover the money. At least he got wise to the problem.

One of the scariest things about identity theft is that you could be a victim and not even know it. Identity theft includes any act in which your identity is used fraudulently. I'm sure you've head of credit card fraud, where someone opens an account in your name or uses your credit card number without your permission. But other common identity theft scams include bank account fraud, phone or utilities fraud, government documents fraud and Social Security fraud.

In this feature, we list four red flags that can signal that you are a victim of identity theft.

First Up: Red Flag No. 1



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