If you have never been a victim of identity theft, please read this. There are ways to help prevent identity theft from happening. For those who have already been a victim of identity theft, this article should prove helpful to you as well. There are ways to reduce the risk of identity theft and everyone can benefit from being more informed on the subject. Identity theft is taking place every day and is increasing at a rapid rate all across the U.S.

Monitoring your background check can help to prevent identity theft. This method has proven highly effective in determining whether you could be at risk for identity theft. Monitoring your own background check will give you the ability to find any false information that someone else could have entered while stealing your information. You may not believe this is happening today, but it is becoming more prevalent across the U.S. Identity theft is one of the worst crimes committed against an individual. Personal records are stolen and used by the person stealing them. You are at risk of having your social security number stolen, along with your phone numbers and other private information. Many insurmountable problems result from identity theft.

The consequences of being a victim of identity theft are difficult to comprehend. The result of losing private information can cause numerous problems and personal grief for months or even years to come. Monitoring your background check can prevent identity theft. Take precaution, be safe. Don't let identity theft happen to you. Visit http://www.mybackgroundcheck.com to learn more about monitoring your background check and preventing identity theft.

Last week, a man who for years had been tops on a California city's Most Wanted list was arrested -- on a cruise ship. And he wasn't a passenger. As reported by the Oakland Tribune and USA Today's Cruise Log, Bulgarian Kaloyan Kaloyanov, who was wanted for a sexual assault case that took place in 2000, was working onboard Carnival Splendor as the manager of the ship's hair salon. He'd been working onboard cruise ships for several years, employed by Steiner Leisure, the company that manages the spas and salons on many cruise ships.

How did a wanted criminal get a job onboard a cruise ship? The story made us wonder just how cruise lines, and the companies that hire for them, screen candidates for onboard jobs (as well as onshore ones, as in the case of the cruise line employee who used information about cruise passengers to rob their homes while they were away). It's extremely important to travelers that the people who go into their cabins to clean while they're onshore or the counselors looking after their children in the kids' clubs do not have past histories of theft, abusive behavior or other criminal activities.

We contacted Steiner, as well as a few cruise lines, to find out about their hiring practices. Here's what we learned:

Background checks are an essential part of the hiring process. "Carnival conducts background checks for all shipboard and shoreside personnel," Carnival spokesman Tim Gallagher tells us. "Background checks on all non-U.S. shipboard personnel are conducted by agencies in the candidates' home country and a certified criminal history document for the country of origin is required." Glenn Fusfield, chief operating officer of Steiner Leisure, says that every job applicant for an onboard position is required to supply a police record and background check with official seals -- the company can tell when the documents are faked.

"If there's record of a prior arrest or a conviction, we handle that on an individual basis," says Fusfield. "In some cases, the candidate would automatically be disqualified. But it might be that they have something lingering from their past that won't interfere with their current job, or the people have moved on." He maintains that Kaloyanov had a "clean and perfect" background check from his home country when Steiner hired him.

The cruise line or hiring company is not the only organization to run background checks. "The U.S. State Department oversees the issuance of seamen's visas to foreign nationals who sail with ships into U.S. ports," says Cynthia Martinez, spokeswoman for Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Azamara Club Cruises. "Therefore the U.S. embassy in the crewmember's country of origin conducts background checks in connection with the issuance of seamen's visas." In addition, U.S. Customs and Border Protection runs checks on ships' manifests, which include all crewmembers onboard, each time a ship enters and leaves U.S. ports. Other countries have similar practices. So even if the hiring agency misses a red flag, the government is looking out for wanted persons entering the country on cruise ships.

And what if a crewmember has a clean record, but gets in trouble after being hired? Says Martinez, "Any crew dismissed from employment for Royal Caribbean for violation of our zero-tolerance policies is not eligible for re-hire with our company."

Given all these checks and screenings, it's surprising that a wanted criminal like Kaloyanov cruised undetected for years, but it also indicates that his case is highly unusual.

Victims of identity theft have to endure many problems in connection with the crime, but recently an identity theft victim in New York who tried to get married was surprised to find out someone else had already tied the knot using the identity theft victim's name.

According to a story in the New York Post, the identity theft victim – Sara Benitez, 44, from Queens – went to the marriage office and was shocked to discover records showed she was already married to man she had never met.

Plagued by identity theft since 1992, Benitez later discovered an identity thief – Araceilis Cherico, 46 – had stolen her identity and used it to get married, divorced, ignore parking tickets, and even collect a refund from the IRS, the Post reported.

While Cherico will be sentenced to 60 days in jail and have to pay thousands in back taxes and penalties, the DA's office is helping Benitez get her “marriage” expunged so she can marry her long-time boyfriend, according to the Post.

The nation’s leading provider of applicant-supplied background checks, MyBackgroundCheck.com offers consumers are variety of “personal” background check options – in which individuals perform background checks on themselves – to use as jobseekers, students, volunteers, and tenants, all while protecting themselves against identity theft. For more information on how personal background checks can help prevent identity theft, visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 800-503-2364.

Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MybackgroundChk.

pr@mybackgroundcheck.com

Jobseekers hoping that a new year – and a new decade – will bring better luck in finding work can finally celebrate some potentially good news regarding future employment trends.

According to the study “2010 Job Forecast” by online jobs website CareerBuilder.com, more employers expect to hire new workers in 2010 than in 2009. The survey of more than 2,700 hiring managers and human resource professionals in November found that 20 percent – one in five – said they would hire full-time, permanent workers in 2010 compared to 14 percent of employers who said they planned to do the same in 2009.

In addition, the study revealed only 9 percent of employers said they intended to cut jobs next year, compared to 16 percent who said they would fire workers in 2009. A majority of respondents, 61 percent, predicted staffing levels would remain the same.

Regionally, the study found employers in the West planned to increase hiring more in 2010 than the other regions of the country, as nearly one-quarter – 24 percent – intended to add full-time workers compared to 21 percent in the Northeast, 20 percent in the South, and 16 percent in the Midwest.

With regard to hiring by industries, the study showed 32 percent of information technology (IT), 27 percent of manufacturing, and 23 percent of financial services employers plan to add full-time, permanent employees in 2010, followed by employers in professional and business services (22 percent), sales (21 percent), healthcare (21 percent), transportation (18 percent), and retail (15 percent).

As for which job types employers planned to hire for in 2010, one-third (33 percent) of those surveyed answered technology, followed by customer service (28 percent), sales people (23 percent), research/development (18 percent), business development (17 percent), accounting/finance (15 percent), and marketing (14 percent).

No matter what region, industry, or job type, most jobseekers will have to undergo a pre-employment background check. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), 80 percent of employers perform some type of pre-employment background check on prospective employees. In order to make sure that the information contained in their background checks is current, accurate, and secure, many jobseekers are performing “personal” background checks on themselves so they won’t lose out on any job opportunity because of mistakes and inaccuracies in their personal information.

MyBackgroundCheck.com – the nation’s leading supplier of applicant-supplied background checks – offers “personal” background check services to individuals to use as jobseekers to gain employment in a tough economy. For more information on how personal background checks can help jobseekers find work, please visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 800-300-1821.

Follow MyBackgroundCheck.com on www.twitter.com/MyBackgroundChk.

pr@mybackgroundcheck.com

A team of experts has come up with a “Top 10” list of identity theft predictions for 2010, and the immediate future does not look any brighter for victims of the crime.

According to a press release, the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) – a non-profit organization established to support identity theft victims and broaden public awareness of the crime of identity theft – and nationally recognized identity theft expert Robert Siciliano have teamed up to create a Top 10 list of identity theft predictions for 2010 and beyond.

1. The recession will lead to more identity theft scams, since identity thieves always find a way to use difficult economic times to their advantage.
2. Identity thieves will take advantage of high unemployment rates by tricking jobseekers with fake job listings and work-at-home scams.
3. The number of individuals with no criminal history who will begin to explore the crime of identity theft for financial gain will increase.
4. Child identity theft and identity theft cases perpetrated by people close to the victim – such as friends, roommates, and fellow workers – will increase in tough economic times.
5. Medical identity theft will rise as high unemployment and high medical insurance costs cause uninsured people to use the coverage of friends, relatives, or strangers to get medical care.
6. Insider identity theft will increase due to the failure to secure workplaces to prevent identity thieves from gaining access to personal information contained in databases or paper files.
7. Individuals will fall victim to Governmental identity theft after they apply for government assistance and benefits using their own Social Security Numbers (SSNs), leading to complications with government institutions.
8. Criminal identity theft – when one individual uses another’s personal information to avoid having a criminal record – will grow, leading to loss of employment and benefits, and to arrests of identity theft victims.
9. Social media identity theft will increase, allowing identity thieves hack social media accounts with “phishing” to create infected links or false pages to steal personal information from users and their “friends.”
10. Over the next two years, identity theft crimes – and the  number of victims – will increase unless changes are made in information security, especially to the current system of identification that has few safeguards to protect consumers.

While these predictions show how identity theft could get even worse, the crime is already a problem for millions of people. According to Javelin Strategy & Research, identity theft and fraud increased 22 percent in 2008, affecting nearly ten million Americans. And those numbers are expected to get worse before they get better.

To help protect against identity theft, MyBackgroundCheck.com – the nation's leading provider of applicant-supplied background checks – offers individuals “personal” background check services to help keep personal information current, accurate, and secure. For more information about personal background checks, visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364. Follow MyBackgroundCheck.com on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MyBackgroundChk.

pr@mybackgroundcheck.com