It can be small amounts multiple times a month, or thousands of dollars at a time taken from your account or charged to your credit cards before you can do anything about it.

"People don't realize how susceptible they are to identity theft," says Shawnee County District Attorney Robert Hecht.

Skilled scammers are everywhere: you'll meet them over the phone, on the internet and they know how to get you to give them all the information they need to steal your identity.

"It's an ever increasing problem and will become even more so unless and until people recognize, you don't give out confidential information to anyone you don't really know or who really needs it," Hecht says.

But thieves can also take your identity. The flag that's meant for the mailman also tells thieves that important information, like checks or account numbers, could be inside. And in a matter of seconds, they can drive off with your identity.

"Locally, criminals are interested in obtaining your credit cards, your debit cards or information about you," says Hecht, "That's all the information I would need to become you."

Your trash is often an identity thief's treasure. "One of the easiest things is to raid your trash, people throw away bank records, they throw away credit card bills, they throw away receipts," says Hecht. The answer: Shred those documents as soon as you’re done with them and keep important documents locked up.

Most identity thieves are pros at what they do and you may not realize anything's wrong, until it's too late.

"It can be amounts of $10, $75, $90, six, eight, or ten times a month, or it can be amounts of thousands of dollars before it's discovered," Hecht says.

So check your statements every month and make sure the purchases or withdrawals are accurate. If you think you've been a victim, "Immediately contact the Police Department or Sheriff Department and if it involves activities in other communities, then I would suggest you contact the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Attorney General's Office," Hecht says.

For more tips, including how to protect your financial well-being from an identity thief check www.fraudweek.com.

To take a quiz to see how vulnerable you are to identity theft, go to the Consumer Protection section at wachovia.com at www.wachovia.com.

If you think you've been a victim, here are some helpful resources:
Place a fraud alert on your credit file at www.consumer.gov/idtheft/recovering_idt.html.

To close accounts you know or believe have been tampered with or opened fraudulently use the ID Theft Affidavit at www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/affidavit.pdf.

Contact the Attorney General's Office at www.accesskansas.org/ksag. or the Kansas Bureau of Investigation at www.accesskansas.org/kbi.
If think your security number has been stolen, call 1-800-269-0271
For your free annual credit report contact Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
Experian: 1-800-682-7654
Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289
Or to file an identity theft claim, call the Federal Trade Commission:
1-877-IDTHEFT