"This form of credit card fraud occurs when a thief gains access to your credit or debit card number through criminal hacking, dumpster diving, ATM skimming or perhaps you simply hand it over when paying at a store or restaurant," says Robert Siciliano, identity theft expert with BillGuard, a financial security service.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/identity-theft-not-funny-movies-080033875.html