Almost everyone using a credit card can be an unwilling victim. With all business and financial transactions done through computers and online means, it has made information very valuable as well as very vulnerable to theft. Your personal information has become a very valuable asset. Anyone who can get hole of it can use it to their advantage at your very expense. Safeguarding Your Social Security Nunber High tech communications have raised notoriety in the rampant theft of identification numbers. The mightiest business tycoon down to the lowest ranking employee in a corporation, company, or any enterprise owns a kind of identity number attached to his being member to any social security group, or kind of financial management for use in billings, daily expenditures, and savings. They can open a credit card account and immediately charge up to the limit with no intention of paying. Credit cards can be obtained through banks and credit unions as well as chain stores. Many offers for "pre-approved" credit cards come in the mail. Getting a credit card issued by department stores is simple. With enough identifying information, a criminal can assume an individual's identity and conduct a wide range of crimes: for example, applications for loans and credit cards, withdrawals from bank accounts, use of telephone calling cards, or obtaining other goods or privileges which the criminal might be denied if he were to use his real name. Every creditor and financial institution with whom you do business should receive a copy of that report along with a letter explaining that you have been the victim of identity theft. Make sure that you hold onto the original police report because you may need to make even more copies. Copies should also be sent to all three credit reporting agencies. Some even listen in on your conversation if you give your credit-card number over the telephone to a hotel or rental car company. Even the area near your home or office may not be secure. Some criminals engage in "dumpster diving" going through your garbage cans or a communal dumpster or trash bin -- to obtain copies of your checks, credit card or bank statements, or other records that typically bear your name, address, and even your telephone number.