What is identity theft? Identity theft is not merely having your wallet stolen. Identity theft is when someone steals your personal information and uses it for fraudulent purposes, such as obtaining IDs and credit cards.
A few years ago, I moved from the US to Sweden. After I had been here about a year, I decided to see if I could get one of my credit cards (AT&T Universal Credit Card: MasterCard) transferred here. I called the credit card company and they said it would be no problem; I would get my new card in the mail in Sweden within two weeks (Mistake #1: I didn't note the date and time of the call, nor did I note the name of the person I talked to. You should always keep detailed notes when making calls like this.).
Two weeks passed and the card never came, but I thought nothing of it (Mistake #2: If you're expecting a credit card in the mail, and it doesn't come, sound the alarm!). Then several months later, my grandmother in the US called and said I had gotten some mail, and she wondered if she could open it. She opened the mail, and to our surprise, it was three credit card bills, all for new cards, and all maxed out to about $2,000 each.
Apparently, it was inside job. Whoever I talked to at the credit card company, passed on my info to a buddy, instead of doing his job. Since I was out of the country, he new his buddies could go on a shopping rampage in my name long before I got wind of it. And he was right.
The three bills were from Radio Shack, Target, and Palais Royal. I had never even heard of the latter, but it didn't matter; somebody had stolen my identity and racked up a bill for $2K in my name.
Radio Shack was buy far the easiest to handle and the most helpful. The nice lady on the phone told me I needed to call the three major credit reporting companies-- Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union-- to get credit reports and put my accounts on alert. I took it to the next level, however, and had all my accounts frozen indefinitely, since I wasn't planning on using credit cards anymore anyway.
Target was also helpful. The representative there let me make a PDF of my passport, which proved that I wasn't in the country during the time of incident, and I sent them some forms via email- very easy and convenient.
Palais Royal, on the other hand, was an absolute pain. It took over two years of mailing affidavits and documentation back and forth to get the issue resolved. Thanks for nothing, Palais Royal.