You read about it in the paper all the time.  You and most people you know have probably received lots of the spam e-mails about people who lost all their money in foreign countries asking for financial help or the members of European or African elite whose close relatives have just died.  And most often it is just an annoyance of modern day life.  

But what happens when identity theft gets a lot more close, and invasively personal?  Have you had your credit cards received charges you did not make?  Or even more intrusive, have you ever filed your federal taxes only to be told someone has used your social security number before you did?  Or most violating of all, have you ever discovered that someone broke into your financial accounts--be it retirement accounts, college funds for your kids or any other accounts, and actually stolen your funds?

Over the past couple of years, I have experienced all of the forms of identity theft listed above.  And most recently, someone broke into my retirement accounts and stole $13K in 5 transactions by opening up a bank account in Virginia in the name of an entirely different identity theft victim.  Because my retirement account firm put up a red flag to have 5 transactions made the very morning a new bank account was attached to my account with them, the stolen funds were put on hold, and a week later, recovered.

However, the experience of first having my AOL account hacked three times, and then having money stolen from what was thought to be a totally secure, professionally managed retirement account, felt like the modern day version of having someone break into your home in spite of a burglar alarm and no key.

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