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Sadly, most Americans only think about identity theft protection after they have been victimized. This is the unfortunate tradition of closing the barn door only after the horse has escaped. Sadly most of us install Firewalls, Antivirus software, and monitor our credit card transactions only after having lost tens (or hundreds!) of thousands of dollars. This is when we start to get interested in identity theft protection!

If you are one of the intelligent few that is genuinely interested in identity theft protection, after hearing the horror stories associated with ID theft, then read on.

First of all you should only carry the ID that you need. Identity theft protection is more effective when you take preventive measures to keep you id safe. For instance, you should only carry a credit card, and your identification with you.

If you aren’t driving, leave your drivers license in a secure place at home. If you aren’t planning on making any business transactions will require your Social Security card, then don’t bring it along.

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 on it, don’t just leave it lying around. It’s unlikely that you would even notice it, if it turned up missing, so shred it and throw it away.

There is no reason for you to be craming old, expired credit cards into your wallet, or leaving them in old wallets that are lying around the house. Cut them up and dispose of the pieces. If you have a credit card that you rarely ever use, or maintain inactive bank accounts, close these accounts. Thieves may just use them, and you will be none the wiser until it’s too late.

Okay, so you chose a PIN that’s impossible to guess. The problem is, that you are having 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.