Using easily accessible public records, they can learn your place of employment, date of birth, and mother's maiden name. 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. By shredding all of your mail and important papers before you throw them in the garbage, you'll make it impossible for identity thieves to get their hands on your discarded correspondence. When you provide information to businesses or stores, such as hotels or rental car companies, ask them if they shred hardcopies of your information before disposing of it. And in case they do not show up in court during the legal proceedings, a warrant of arrest can be issued on your name and sent to your home for a crime that you have no idea about. You can see how difficult it can be having your identity stolen. Damaging and costly consequences await any victim. If you need protection from identity theft, all you will need is look in the mirror. Also available are the Social Security number, last six addresses, current phone number as well as names and phone numbers of neighbors. Some large, prestigious companies offering such information include Lexis-Nexis and West Publishing Company. Many smaller companies also provide similar services. This research used to take days. With today s technology and the growing sophistication of the world wide web, hackers and con artists are now living in a world that used to only exist in the pages of a science fiction book or a scene in a suspense-thriller movie. This can be a major problem for anyone because not only will you have to worry about your personal properties like credit cards and bank accounts, you also have to think about the fact that someone else is using your name and your reputation to do god-knows what. Because of the big market for financial products such as credit cards, credit institutions have made it easier for people to apply for credit cards. This in turn has made it easier for people to give out their personal information that can be at risk of being stolen. Even having these credit applications available online has proven to be a big reason for the increase of identity theft.