More and more consumers turn to credit scores as a barometer of their financial health in the face of growing economic troubles and concerns over identity theft. The number of daily unique visitors to credit score resource Credit Karma has nearly doubled since September.

While the usual form of identity theft refers to the unauthorized use of personal information obtained from databases, another form has evolved; this form uses sophisticated hacking techniques over wireless networks to acquire the necessary private information. In this form of identity theft, hackers typically breach security systems and install programs to obtain personal and financial data that is then either sold to a third party, or used by the hackers for personal gain.