Identity theft: What everyone should know Commentary by Tech. Sgt. Vann Miller Air Force Academy Public Affairs 4/27/2012 - U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- Looking at my account balance made me sick to my stomach. The numbers in red print on my bank account ledger indicated I was more than $3,000 in the red. I let out a growl and sank in my chair, not knowing how much more of this nightmare I had to endure. My identity had been stolen, and no matter how rigorously I attacked this problem, it was not going away soon enough. I had spent the past week retracing my steps. I tried to put myself into the mindset of this criminal, hoping to glean some idea how I could have contributed to my own misfortune. I was at a loss. I use strong passwords. I closed all open ports on my wireless home network. I even had notifications sent directly to my email account and phone whenever changes to my account were made. But none of these precautions spared me from this virtual theft. I was confused and stressed. There was no way for me to discover exactly how I became a victim of this fast growing crime, but if you think you are immune, I will tell you that up until a week ago, I felt the same way. According to the Federal Trade Commission, millions of identities were compromised due to the corporate mishandling of personal information. Identity theft can happen to nearly anyone. In my case, during the span of one week, my insurance account with USAA was hacked, a credit card and two other accounts were opened in my name, and an attempt to open a third account was made at another bank. The entire ordeal shook my confidence in online banking and made me feel extremely vulnerable. I was even surprised at how my bank authorized an expense transaction worth totally more money than I had on hand. With no questions asked, they were willing to authorize a payment to a third party even though I didn't have funds in my account to cover it. The unfortunate reality is that anyone can become the victim of this crime. Even in the safe confines of your home, a determined criminal can bate you and steal your identity. And if you think digging through your trash is beneath a thief, think again. In an apartment complex like the one I live in, community trash bins are common depositories of personal information. Dumpster diving is a very easy way for criminals to gather everything from unwanted magazines to preapproved credit offers. You may be surprised just how much information about ourselves we put into the trash. According to the Department of Justice website, information such as copies of your checks, credit card or bank statements often make its way into the trash. This kind of information often bears your name, address and even your telephone number. Though I make no claim to be an expert on identity theft or fraud, I can point out some steps I took to protect myself from being further victimized. The first thing I did was notify my bank. After speaking to them and explaining the situation, they gave me a list of helping agencies. I then contacted one of the credit agencies and filed a claim for identity theft -- this informed creditors that I was the victim of identity theft so they could better detect suspicious activities done in my name. Then I contacted law enforcement. After all, identity theft is a crime. The more it gets reported, then the more evidence police and investigators have toward solving these crimes. I've learned that it is important to shred everything. Until now, I thought it was good enough to tear up my junk mail. But after this event, I can see that when it comes to protecting your identity, you should take nothing for granted. If you feel as though you are the victim of fraud or identity theft, contact local law enforcement to report the incident. If you have questions or require further information regarding criminal issues, visit the FTC's identity theft website at www.ftc.gov/idtheft.