Online transactions saved amount of time and effort like no other methods can. It has a complex yet very lucrative system all business people will avail for better services. The convenience itself is the beginning of horror. Identity theft cases happen when another person gets access to use private information not belonging to them. Obviously, banks or other financial management companies have already put them on records, and another attempt to get thru the like data is certainly created by somebody else s, other than where your inputs are. 2. Be careful not to throw away your returned checks on paid billings from your paying banks. They buy the information either on the Internet or from someone who might have stolen it. They steal it from a loan or credit application form you filled out or from files at a hospital, bank, school or business that you deal with. They may have obtained it from dumpsters outside of such companies. They get it from your computer, especially those without firewalls. Indeed, there is great chance now more than ever that your personal information will be stolen by identity number thieves. Therefore, the question in everyone s mind is: How can we protect ourselves and our families from identity thieves? The first thing that any individuals wanting to be protected from identity number theft must do is to be informed and educated. Meaning, when identity theft to that magnitude happens, it is usually committed by someone who knows your personal habits and may not be a serial identity theft. That means, you need to safe guard against friends or family that may have a drug problem or are in dire financial straits. Suspicious of you to think this way sure but as the clich goes, it is better to be safe than sorry, and believe me, sorry is the least of your worries if you become the hapless victim of identity theft. Identity theft cases rarely end in arrests because the guilty party can too easily cover his or her tracks. However, after you report identity theft to the police, you should contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC is the government agency through which all the cases of identity thefts must pass through before being investigated at the federal level.