Identity theft is a form of stealing someone's identity in which someone pretends to be someone else by assuming that person's identity, usually as a method to gain access to resources or obtain credit and other benefits in that person's name. One form of identity theft is where an individual impersonates another and completes a change of address in order to obtain that person's financial information and mail. Another method of identity theft is where one party collects personal credit and/or banking information and alters it slightly for the purpose of obtaining credit. For example, making a one-digit change to a social security number. Often a credit reporting agency will assume a typographical error and allow creditors access to the original account.