Here's what you need to know to protect yourself.
Identity theft is an ancient crime.
Surely, at least one early caveman tried to pull the Woolly Mammoth over another caveman's eyes as soon as he realized the switcheroo might land him a new club or a cave with better lighting. In the more recent past, purse snatching and mail theft were the most common methods of obtaining someone else's identity. Although these tried and true methods are still used by many workaday criminals, the growth of the Internet, with its vast collections of easily accessible personal data, has made identity theft much more high tech. Unfortunately, local police agencies are ill-equipped to handle these sophisticated crimes, which often extend across many national and international boundaries. Although a few high profile identity theft cases make headlines every year, very few thieves are actually apprehended and prosecuted.