TWIN FALLS -- Everyone wants a new car, but Kim Obenchain never saw, picked out or got to drive the truck she bought in Florida.

Rather, an illegal Brazilian immigrant using Obenchain's Social Security number picked out his dream vehicle and stuck Obenchain with the bill. The thief didn't even need Obenchain's name.

Regardless, six months after the purchase -- when he hadn't bothered to make a single payment -- the dealership came after Obenchain.

Turns out a man going by the name Paulos Slavo, whom Florida authorities say is an immigrant who was supposed to go back to Brazil in 2002, ripped off both the car dealership in Fort Myers and Obenchain's credit. He has since disappeared -- either gone back to his home country, or is living under a new alias with someone else's Social Security number.

Obenchain was shocked at the ease of identity theft. For one thing, her thief didn't even try to look like her.

"The guy didn't even use my name -- that's how easy this is," she said.

"People need to know: This is happening a lot."

Last year in the United States alone, 10 million Americans were victims of identity theft. That's 5 percent of the population.

ID theft sweeps the nation

Obenchain doesn't know how Slavo got her number. There are too many ways to count.

It could have been a hacker on a computer database -- like what's happened to millions of Americans already this year whose information was stored in places like Choicepoint.com, a data collection organization that compromised about 145,000 identities when it was hacked. Ralph Lauren's customer information database also was hacked in April, which compromised hundreds of thousands of identities.

And last week, an incident was revealed involving Wachovia Corp. and Bank of America where the identities of 700,000 customers of four banks were compromised when employees were bribed into selling private customer information. Bank of America also recently announced it "lost" disks with the account information of more than 1 million federal employees.

And if Obenchain likes shoes as much as many women, her identity might have been compromised when DSW, a prominent shoe retailer, was hacked into, compromising account information for 1.4 million credit and debit cards, as well as 96,000 checks. But computer database hacking is just one way her identity may have ended up in Slavo's hands.

There are still many other possibilities, including buying items online without a secure connection. Or even if there is a secure connection at a Web site, hackers can still use your own Internet connection to gain access to your computer and track each keystroke -- paying special attention to numbers that could belong to an account or Social Security number.

It's that kind of rampant hacking that has led Twin Falls Police Detective Sgt. Dave Heidemann to never buy online, even if the connection says it's safe. He doesn't trust it, and he tells others to be skeptical as well. Something else to be skeptical of? He says the mail and the trash.

Lessons learned

Obenchain didn't used to shred her documents -- something she now does with the kind of faithfulness usually reserved for a Sunday sermon. Heidemann says that's the crucial first step in preventing this quickly growing crime.

"First and foremost, we recommend that you throw nothing away -- it all needs to be shredded. We get these things in the mail -- pre-approved for a credit card, then it gets picked up by the wrong person," Heidemann said. "It can then be used or traded for money or drugs."

And the thief doesn't have to trade locally. There is an international market for such information on the Internet, with prices ranging from one dollar to a thousand bucks.

The next step? Getting a post office box and not sending outgoing mail from your mailbox at home.

"If you don't have a post office box, you are advertising to the world, 'Hey, I have mail here' when you put the flag up," Heidemann said. "You should put that mail in there just before they arrive, or take it to one of those blue bins, but make sure it goes down. They don't always go down and lots of mail is intercepted that way."

Obenchain said, "If someone wanted to find your Social Security number, they can."

A quick search using an online search engine unveiled dozens of Web sites claiming to have access to legitimate identities -- all available for a price. Obenchain's might have been one of those listed on such a site.

There is no way to track down exactly how Obenchain's identity landed in Slavo's hands, or who else had it before Slavo got it. The only thing Obenchain knows is how difficult it is to clean up such a mess.

"I'm told it takes about $600 and three years to clean up," she said.

She has written to all three credit reporting agencies, filed a police report, checked and rechecked her credit. She still hasn't taken that truck for a drive that was bought with the help of her Social Security number, although the situation has taken her for a ride she will never forget.

"I think we should all go to fingerprinting," she said with frustration in her voice.

Until that day, Obenchain lives in fear that Slavo -- or someone else -- will use her identity again to make purchases.

"I'm worried now that he's got my ID," she said. "He can open up credit cards, cell phones ..."

And maybe even buy another truck.

Finding help Are you a victim of identity theft and don't know where to go for help? Try these resources: U.S. Department of Justice, identity theft information. Web: www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/idtheft.html Federal Trade Commission: The FTC offers information for victims. Victims are also able to file their case with the FTC Consumer Response Center. Include your police report number. Contact: (877) IDTHEFT (877-438-4338) Web: www.consumer.gov/idtheft Privacy Rights Clearinghouse: 3100 Fifth Ave., Suite B, San Diego, CA 92103. Contact: (619) 298-3396. Web: www.privacyrights.org. Identity Theft Resource Center: P.O. Box 26833, San Diego, CA 92196. Lists regional victim support groups on its Web site as well as guides for victims. Contact: (858) 693-7935 Web: www.idtheftcenter.org FBI Internet Fraud Complaint Center Web: www.ifccfbi.gov

Opting out of free offers To opt out of pre-approved offers of credit cards and loans, call (888) 5-OPT-OUT (888-567-8688). It contacts all three credit bureaus. You also can opt out online at www.optoutprescreen.com. You may choose a five-year opt-out period or permanent opt-out status.