My husband received three new credit cards in the mail in the last two days... but they weren't his. Someone used his Social Security number, name, and address to impersonate him and apply for credit from Radio Shack, Kay Jewelers, Circuit City, and Home Depot. (This person tried at Target, too, but was denied.) In two days, this person racked up more than $11,000 in charges.
My husband was lucky that the person using his info. was dumb enough to use our real address when he/she applied for credit. So when new cards came, we realized something had gone wrong. Many identity thieves are smarter, and have the new cards mailed to another location. So the person whose identity was stolen does not realize anything has happened for weeks or months.
If you are a victim of identity theft, start planning how to respond at the FTC Website's Recover from Identity Theft info. page.
