Sad but never the less true, the majority of identity theft victims actually know the thief. A flat or work mate, neighbor, brother or sister-in-law and even a Son or Daughter are much more likely to steal your identity than the stereotypical Nigerian sat in his bedroom in a far away continent with a laptop. If you want to stop identity theft you will need to come to terms with this fact.

Now you know who the potential thief is, you will have to develop a little mistrust if you want to stop identity theft happening to you. This might sound bad and you might feel sure that X person would never do that to you but cash is a huge motivator and it will do no harm to remove any temptation.

Keep all paperwork etc. hidden away from prying eyes and don’t leave a check book laying around the home or at work. It’s always best to memorize your social security number if possible but failing that, don’t leave it anywhere unattended such as in your desk draw at work.

Checking your credit report only identifies your identity has been stolen but at least it means you can stop it before it gets any worse. You are entitled to free annual credit reports which you can get from www.annualcreditreport.com. If you spot any unusual activity report it straight away.

You can also place fraud alerts on your credit file for free which is basically what Life Lock charge you $12 a month for. A fraud alert can stop identity theft because it tells any credit company that they should contact you in person to verify it is you applying for the credit card, loan etc.

You can find out how to do place a fraud alert with the 3 credit bureaus at www.ftc.gov/idtheft

To learn much more about how to proactively stop identity theft, check out our ebook Identity Theft Protection.