I recently became aware of some disturbing information while stopping at my local convenience store…

Pulling up to the convenience store’s gas pumps late one night, I jumped out and pumped ten dollars worth of gas into my car (which gave me a whopping total of three gallons of gas) and proceeded to go inside to pay my bill. Handing over my credit card, I chatted with the clerk who I manage to visit a few times a week since I have an aversion to handing over large sums of money in one sitting to the almighty money-grubbing fuel mongrels. After scanning my credit card, the clerk gave me the receipt to sign and then made the comment that he now had my credit card number.

One of the primary roles of the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) is to protect consumers from deceptive, unfair, and illegal business practices. The today’s FTC administration, currently chaired by Deborah Platt Majoras, is focusing more and more on identity theft prevention via consumer education, as well as federal lawsuits against businesses and companies that fail to adequately protect consumer data.

Each and every consumer is vulnerable to identity theft and can become a target, and that is the message that needs to be heard by every consumer. With millions of Americans becoming a victim of identity theft each year, it is clearly a problem area, and a problem that many local, state, and federal agencies are having some trouble getting their arms around.

If you are not concerned about identity theft, the assumption would have to be that you either already have identity theft insurance or you have been living under a rock in recent years. Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes of this century, and if you are not watchful about who you provide your personal information to and what they are going to do with it, you are leaving yourself open as an easy target for thieves.

Identity theft is a growing concern for Americans today. Thieves are able to hack, steal and obtain your personal information in ways you can’t even imagine. Once this information is compromised, your financial life and your good credit can be ruined for years. It takes a lot longer to get it fixed than it did for the thief to ruin it. Most of the time, the thief is never caught and he is free to move on to the next victim. This article will give you some useful information on how these thieves can obtain your identity so that you can protect yourself.

In this day in age, identity theft is a very real and unfortunate occurrence, knowing how to protect yourself is your first defense.

Identity Theft: Learning To Protect Yourself

We live in a world in which identity theft affects us all. At every corner, at every turn, there may be a thief just waiting for us to let our guard down, constant awareness of your documents and surroundings is necessary to guard yourself against this travesty. The following are ten tips on how you can protect yourself against identity theft.

Tip #1 - Lighten the weight of your purse or wallet.

The crime of identity theft is rising where it has become one of the fastest growing crimes of this century. Practice the art of identity theft protection for yourself so that you do not become a victim. Here are ten tips that you should follow to avoid having yourself be an easy target for identity theft.

1. Destroy private records

Do not keep private records and statements longer than you need to. If you are concerned about an IRS audit, you do not need to keep records longer than 7 years. Get rid of those credit card solicitations. Don’t just tear them up, which can be pieced back together by thieving dumpster divers, invest in a paper shredder, very inexpensive at any office supply store like Best Buy or Office Max.

Identity theft is no fun. Sometimes a few simple action steps can go a long ways towards successfully helping you avoid making errors or slip ups that could result in identity theft. Start by making positive adjustments in your life and place of business so that you can avoid identity theft in your life…

If you go to apply for a loan or credit card, you may be asked a lot of security questions. And it may not be because someone stole your identity and is using it to buy things. It may be because they are using it for another identity, either real or fictitious, and buying things or stealing with it.

For example, you may work for years for a company. And meanwhile, social security is being reported to your social security number. However, if the number shows up under someone else’s name and not yours, you may have a difficult time trying to collect what you’ve worked so long and hard to build up for yours self when it comes to retirement years.

Many people do not realize that there are different types of identity theft. There are indeed several ways in which the identity thief can take advantage of your personal information, while leaving you to deal with the repercussions. Here’s what you need to know about the 5 types of identity theft.

The type of identity theft you are probably most familiar with is Financial Identity Theft. It is when the thief uses your information to set up financial accounts in your name without your permission or knowledge. The thief may obtain credit cards, loans, merchandise, homes, vehicles, vacations and more, all in your name. Financial identity theft can definitely cost you thousands of dollars in debt, not to mention the painstaking process of clearing your name and credit.

If you haven’t been reading the newspapers or watching the evening news, you may not be aware that the crime of identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes of this century. Identity theft is not only for online activities, but is every bit as rampant on normal offline activities, even for people that don’t even own a computer.

The problem is that people are not careful with their personal information. A grocery store clerk asks you for your social security number or to write your social security number on a check. No way. Either decline or do your grocery shopping elsewhere, because there is no good reason for you to divulge that very personal piece of identifying information to anyone who does not need it, and I can guarantee that your grocery store does not need it.