The theft of your identity is a crime in itself, but the real damage is in the financial destruction: drained bank accounts, maxed out credit cards, bankruptcies, and bounced checks. In 2003, t he U.S. Ways and Means Commission reported 10 million people fell victim to identity theft, with half of them not ever knowing how the thief obtained their personal identification. Approximately 25% comes from a direct theft or loss - wallet, purse, check book – and one-third of the money spent is through credit card fraud. This crime results in a total annual loss to businesses of over $50 billion. Impact to individuals tops $5 billion with over 300 million hours spent resolving ID theft issues.