It can be very difficult to measure the extent of identity theft crimes, as not only are there a wide range of difference ways in which fraudsters can misuse another person’s personal information, but also that many victims don’t actually report the crime to the local police.  This may be because they have had the matter resolved quickly by their own account providers and don’t realize they should inform the police as well, or they might actually know the identity of the thief and are not willing to pursue the matter.
 
Another problem faced by victims, the government and law enforcement agencies as it can be very difficult and time consuming to try and track individual incidents of identity theft crime, and so many low scale operations and individual thieves often go unpunished.  Law enforcement agencies and governments are in the process of setting up new and improvement measures against the growing threat of identity theft crimes, which can be solved with a good identity theft solution, but currently there are few convictions and these focus mainly on high scale, often international identity fraud gangs.
 
Identity fraud should be taken very seriously, and one of the reasons it has risen so dramatically over the last 5 years is the relative ease in which the thieves can get hold of another persons sensitive details (both by using sophisticated online methods and simply by stealing wallets and documents), and also the fact that there they see there being very little risk of being prosecuted and punished for these particular crimes.
 
You should make every effort to protect your sensitive personal data from identity thieves, and this includes safeguarding any important documents, credit cards and banking stationary in your home (preferably in a locked safety deposit box), and also ensuring you do not carelessly throw away any papers with your details on and make sure you shred it first.  You should also take care to protect your computer with up to date anti-virus software when you are surfing the Internet.

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