Most of us become familiar with the concept of identity theft due to the popularity of the internet. While the majority of identity theft that takes place today does occur via the internet because of the anonymity it offers the criminals behind it, the concept of identity theft has early roots. Today the way most identity theft occurs classifies it as a type of white collar crime. In the early days though it was often a crime associated with violence.

People were mugged for their wallets and purses for the money but also for the personal information it held. This included addresses from the driver's license, a social security number, and credit cards. They could be used quickly before the owner of such items had that time to report them missing. In many instances the owner had to find the contact information for the credit card companies and that takes time. In the more violent crimes the individual was severely injured or killed in order to take their personal information.

While the majority of ways to take a person's identity are less violent in the physical nature they still have strong emotional issues associated with them. A person who is the victim of identity theft often feels violated and has trouble trusting in the future. The financial distress identity theft brings can result in relationships suffering and individuals losing their job.

Before the internet and even still today plenty of identity theft took place over the phone. Scammers can be very sneaky in order to get you to disclose your personal information to them. It often involves telling the individual that they have won a sweepstakes or a prize of some sort. The caller asks them to verify personal information and then uses it to obtain what they need to steal their identity.

Dumpster diving used to be a common method for stealing a person's identity. It is still used today but many people have gotten smart and shred personal information and pre approved credit card offers before they place them in the garbage. Make sure anything with account numbers or statements are shredded small enough that the person can't take the pieces and tape them back together.