If you are one of the intelligent few that is genuinely interested in identity theft protection issues after having been alerted by the many horror stories associated with ID theft, then read on.

Identity theft protection: Carry only the ID you need

Identity theft protection is most effective as a preventive measure. For instance, you need not carry every credit card and identification you own all the time.

If you aren't driving, leave your license in a secure place at home. If you aren't planning to transact any business that will require your Social Security card, then don't bring it.

If you have an old utility bill somewhere in your bag, or a piece of paper, postcard, or envelope that happens to have your personal data, don't just leave it there. It's unlikely that you will even notice it's missing, so shred it and throw it away.

Identity theft protection: Dispose of ID properly

There is no earthly reason for you to be cramming old, expired credit cards into your wallet, or leaving them in old wallets laying around your house. Cut them up and throw the pieces in separate bins or dispose of them separately.

If you have a credit card you hardly ever use, or maintain inactive bank accounts, close the accounts. Thieves may just use it and you will be none the wiser until it's too late.

Identity theft protection: Keep your PIN away from the card

Okay, so you chose a PIN that's impossible to guess. The problem is, you have a hard time remembering it. So you write it on a piece of paper and keep it next to the card? If you do this, you're just asking to be victimized.

Studies show that in a significant number of identity theft cases involving ATM cards, the victims wrote their PINs either on a piece of paper kept with the card or on the card itself.

Identity theft protection: Exercise your right to privacy

Finally, identity theft protection is 90% knowing how you are vulnerable. Banks have different privacy policies. Ask your bank under what scenarios they would make your account info available to someone else. You have the right to know just how your data is used and can refuse it.

Ask them if they periodically make new product offers through e-mail, or if they give your contact info to an allied organization. If you don't want to receive product offer by e-mail or via the phone, let them know.

This crime occurs when a thief gets information about your credit card numbers, name, address, social security number, and other personal information that should be kept confidential. After they obtained your personal information, they will usually make purchases, open bank accounts, apply for loans, apply for new credit cards, get government benefits, and forge checks in your name.

If you’re a victim, there are ways to solve this problem; you can report the crime to concerned authorities and you can apply for identity theft insurance. Many companies are offering insurance for people to protect their personal information. You can apply for this insurance as an option for homeowner’s insurance policy. However, having identity theft insurance does not prevent identity theft; it will only help you recover if in any case you have been a victim of this crime.

People who become victims of identity theft or identity fraud usually do not figure out how their personal information was acquired by the thief. So, it is wise that you should be careful about your personal information.

The best way to prevent this crime is to be careful with your personal information. You first have to know how criminals obtain your personal information.

Thieves obtain personal information in many simple ways. Here are some examples:

•  By stealing your wallet containing credit cards, and other personal information.

•  By going through your garbage for items containing personal information.

•  By providing personal information online through email or registration based websites.

•  By pretending to be a new creditor to obtain your credit report.

•  By eavesdropping on your phone calls or looking over your shoulder as you use your personal information.

•  By promising prizes or awards by contacting you by email that would require you to provide personal and financial information.

Here are some transactions that also create risk:

•  Online banking
•  Online purchases
•  Storing personal information in your computer
•  Using your social security information for identification purposes.

However, this does not necessarily mean that you should avoid these transactions. It means that you should be careful when giving away your personal and financial information.

Being conscious on how you use your personal and financial information can prevent completion of identity theft.

Here are some tips for safeguarding your personal and financial information:

•  Memorize your social security number

•  Memorize your PIN numbers

•  Don’t use easy to guess passwords, like your birthday or your mother’s maiden name

•  Secure your computer by using firewall software and always update your computer security to safeguard your computer from spywares.

•  Confirm if the website URL that is requesting your personal information is authentic or legitimate.

•  Beware of emails, especially with attachments, belonging to someone you don’t know. Emails like these contain viruses or spywares that can easily be installed in your computer and can send your personal information stored in your computer to thieves.

•  Websites that ask for personal information should be secure. A secured website usually has URL that starts with “https://” with the “s” meaning secured.

•  Beware of telephone inquiries asking you to give your personal information, unless you contacted them.

•  If you lost your credit card, report it immediately to concerned authorities. It could have been stolen by identity thieves.

•  Get your mails as soon as it is delivered.

•  Do not discard bank, credit card or any other transaction receipts in public areas. Someone might obtain these information by dumpster diving.

These are some of the ways to safeguard your personal information. It is important that you should be aware of what you do to items containing your personal and financial information. Practicing these methods will surely minimize the risk of becoming a victim of identity theft.

Perforate or shred important documents containing personal informations such as old credit cards, used checks and identity cards.  You’ll never know when they would fall into wrong hands.

If you suspect that something is wrong, report it immediately to authorities. Be sure that you have a proof that you have reported such incident by keeping it in black and white.

According to recent studies on identity theft, more than 7 million people have become victims of this crime in the US alone. If you compute that on a daily basis, it would result to around 19,000 identity cases a day.

Based on these numbers alone, you will realize that identity theft is really something that should be given serious attention and focus on. With the technology getting more and more advanced everyday, these identity theft stories are not likely to end up soon.

What was presented above was just summaries. They are just if you compare them with the real life stories of what the victims have been though, they will seem insignificant. Many of the people who have experienced the crime have developed traumas that are not easy to get over. Hearing about identity theft stories is way different from being in the situation or having someone close to you relate what had happened.

Although there is no stopping you from becoming a victim of identity theft, there are a lot of steps to take to prevent this from happening. All in all, it all boils down to maintaining a constant watch over your credit or payments. You just need your common sense to tell you if something suspicious has taken place.

By taking these things into consideration, you are making it harder for these thieves to get past the walls that you have erected. Not only that, you will not be among those who have suffered, are suffering and will suffer.

Take note that identity thieves are no different from any other thieves. They too do not like to work hard to get something. If you try and make it quite hard for them to consider you a potential victim, they would probably just let you off and go find another with a more lenient protection around themselves.

Take the case of phishing for example.

Phishing is simply an email you receive that seem to be coming from one of your banks. The message is telling you to get in your online account and confirm some of the details needed. Normally there would be a link included in the mail for convenient purposes.

The instant you clicked on the link, identity thieves will record your ID and password. Once they have this information, it will be easy for them to get into your account. They would probably wipe your account clean in a matter of minutes. You have just lost all your hard earned money.

How will you make use of common sense in this kind of situation?

The very first thing you have to realize is that your banks already have all your personal data saved. If they did not have all these, they will not be able to process your account. So why are they asking for these things again?

The best thing to do is to not give that message another thought. Better yet, thrash them because it is a scam. If that is legitimate, your bank will try to contact you again over other means of communication.

But if you are having second thoughts on the legitimacy of the message, the best thing to do is confirm it. If you have the number of your bank, try and call them. Ask them if they did send the email and why are they doing so.

If they are not the ones who sent you the email, they will probably have the same reaction as you when you received the message.

Moral of this identity theft story? Do not ever try to get into your account via the link sent to you by email. If you have been doing your business online for quite some time, you should know that there is a specified page in where you do your business.

The next option would be to go into the bank’s homepage and log in there if you want to access your account.