There are two things to remember about identity theft. First, this can occur to anyone, and therefore, you need to use the following tips to help you to stop these things from happening to you. Second, there are things you can do to help the FTC to fight these crimes as well, such as reporting the claims to the FTC and your police department.

The following are some tips to help you to protect yourself from identity theft.

1.     Take the time to balance your checkbook, to check your financial statements, and to look at your credit card accounts each month. Ensure that all charges made there are actually charges that you made.

2.     Do check your credit report on a regular basis. Each of the three credit reporting agencies can provide you with paid memberships where you can check your report as often as one time each month. But, you do not need to do this in most cases. Rather, just checking your credit report one time every four months (using one of the national company's free reports each time) will help protect you. You can get a copy and learn more about the free credit reports by visiting AnnualCreditReport.com, the only government site.

3.     Be aware of the things happening around you. For example, when handing your credit card to make a payment, be sure you can watch the person using it. They should only use one device to swipe your card. Even in restaurants, you can walk up to the booth that they are using.

4.     Shred all of the documents that you do throw away. It is important to stop identity thieves before they can get your information. Use a paper shredder to cut up old credit cards, destroy financial paperwork, and destroy statements, account information, or even applications for new accounts that you do or do not get.

5.     Spot problems with your credit as soon as they occur. For example, if you are turned down for a loan, find out why.

6.     Check your criminal background every few years to ensure that there are no charges against you that you are not actually facing.

7.     Speak to your employers about the security of your information. Where do they store your personal identification information? Is it locked up or accessible to anyone?

8.     Educate your family and friends on identity theft. Be sure that your children know what types of information they may or may not provide to strangers.

The more diligent you are in stopping your information from being used, the better off you will be in the long term. Again, small problems can be handled through phone calls to your lender, but larger, more complex problems are those that often go undetected for years to come. More so, you never know who it is that wants to use your information, or even worse, sell your personal information to others who will steal your information.

You do not have to be one of the 9 million Americans to be affected by identity theft. More so, you do not have to be American at all to be affected. Even citizens in other countries can face serious financial problems from the theft of their private information.

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