Part 1 :

Identity thieves gain access to your personal information in many ways, and new ways are being discovered each day.
Remember: the best prevention tactic you can use against an identity theft is by educating yourself. The more you know about
how identity theft works, the more alert you will be in certain situations and the more determined you will become about keeping
your identifiable information secure!

The ways are :

"Shoulder Surfing"
This term is used to describe when identity thieves watch or listen to you when you're involved in an activity that requires you to
share your personal information. Typical examples are:
[1] Watching you enter your Personal Identification Number when you're at the ATM or at a grocery store.
[2] Listening to your telephone conversation as you are providing a credit card number for a purchase.
[3] Watching you enter your calling card number into a pay phone before dialing.

"Dumpster Diving"
This term is self-explanatory. Identity thieves will go to any length to get the information they need including digging through the garbage cans at residences or corporate buildings for checks, credit card and bank statements, pre-approved credit card offers and other personally identifiable records.

"Skimmer"
This term describes a small handheld device used by identity thieves to pull data from your credit or debit card. It can be done in seconds once the identity thief has your card (for a seemingly legitimate purpose like paying a restaurant bill) and you are distracted. With an extra swipe of the card, this device gathers the information that is embedded in the magnetic strip of your card. Enough data is collected to make unauthorized purchases from the account or even to make a counterfeit card. Skimmers can hold data from hundreds of cards

see you in part 2....;)

Following are some of the typical telephone scams to be on the lookout for:

Pay-Per-Call Services:
A typical telephone scam involves the use of bogus collect calls. The victim accepts what he or she believes to be a legitimate collect call, but rather than an actual call from a friend or relative, the victim gets a recorded message soliciting for a so-called charity or offering some kind of service. In reality, the victim has been connected to a pay-per-call service and is charged excessive rates for information that wasn't requested.

Low Rate Credit Card Offers:
Someone calls your home offering a low credit card rate. The caller says that in order to offer the lower rate, they will need to verify the customer's current credit card account number and account information. Securing the customer's credit card account number will allow the scammer to make purchases with the card.
Using a Phone in Public Areas Take care when making telephone calls in public places such as airports, train stations, and public phone booths. Skilled identity thieves can look over your shoulder to see and record the account number and PIN number that you dial. Once these numbers are acquired, calls can be made on your account, or the numbers can be sold.