His hard earned money? Gone. Creditors on his back everyday. Police knocking on his door. His family strained to the breaking point. He didn't do anything wrong but my business partner's life got turned upside down a few years back. He became a victim of what is now the fastest growing crime in the world. Identity theft.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, since 1999 over 27 million people in the US alone became victims of this\repidemic 10 million more last year. Harris InterActive,a\rmarketing research company, reports that between 2002 and\r2003 roughly 19,178 people per day fell victim.

Your identity can be stolen in many ways. For my partner,\rthe thief gained access to his social security number and\raddress then applied for a series of loans in his name. When\rthe bills came due, guess who the creditors and law enforcement held accountable?

He and his family felt the full impact. Identity theft can\rcripple and even destroy a person's life. Not just the time loss\rtrying to recover your identity but also the out of pocket\rexpense. U.S.Treasury Secretary John Snow calls identity\rtheft "the greatest threat to consumers and far more\rinsidious and harmful to our national welfare than many\rpeople realize."

The internet doesn't make it any better with its almost\rlimitless access to information but a great deal of identity\rtheft still comes from the offline world. Wherever it comes\rfrom the goal stays the same. Get your personnal\rinformation and steal what belongs to you for as long as\rpossible.

In many cases, this can lead to the victim filing for\rbankruptcy or worse. As reported by the Orlando Sentinel,\rone man whose identity got stolen recently spent 54 days in\rjail before authorities realized their mistake.

Yet even when the thief finally gets caught, victims find\rout all too often the worse part still lies ahead. The\rrecovery of their identity. For my partner, that meant never\rending battles with the same credit bureaus that previously\rgave him good ratings.

They destroyed his credit almost overnight eventhough he did\reverything they told him to get it restored. The agencies\rrefused to clear his record and instead, started sharing his\rinformation with each other. His mortgage rates went\rthru the roof. He paid more for everything but still got\rdeclined. With all of this came the burden and fear of him\rnot knowing if he would ever recover his identity.

Six years later he finally did. He started working with a\rcompany that within 90 days restored his credit. His\rmortgage rate dropped and he went back to paying full price\rfor everything like the rest of us.

And like my partner, all of us risk becoming victims. In San\rAntonio Texas, television station KENS 5 spoke with a man\rconvicted of identity theft who warned "Don't take for\rgranted what you have because anybody could take it away ¡ª I mean at the snap of a finger."

He would know. The ways of stealing an identity have turned\rthis crime from nuisance to worldwide crisis.

Daryl Campbell is a technical and screenplay writer and CEO of Campbell Marketing, L.L.C. His website winthemarket.com, mini-sites, and articles submitted to ezines help the reader to grow and protect their internet marketing business.

Can you afford to hire professionals who will give you 24/7 protection, complete identity restoration and the best legal services? Identity thieves hope you answer no. Upset them by going to http://digbig.com/4cmcg now.