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With all the advanced technology available to them, bad guys are increasingly turning to identity theft as a way to rip you off. Identity theft is when someone takes and inappropriately uses the personal and financial information of another person for his or her own personal gain. Identity thieves typically put hefty charges on a stolen credit card or commit crimes in another person's name. This causes the victim a lot of trouble and time, in some cases years, to sort out.

This new form of crime should be a concern to everyone. However, you can begin to protect your credit and personal information from identity thieves much more easily than you might think. You can keep an eye on your credit simply by checking your credit score with the credit bureaus on a regular basis.

A new piece of legislation passed recently mandates that the three main credit bureaus have to let me check my credit score for free at least one a year. Sometimes, seeing your numerical credit score ratings will cost you a small fee. By checking your credit report, you can view all the accounts that are open in your name. If anything appears suspicious, you can look into the accounts and argue the findings with the credit bureau, free of charge.

Checking your credit report with the credit bureaus is a great first step, but there are also several other steps that can be taken to increase your protection. Be sure to thoroughly shred all important documents before they are to be thrown out. There have been several reports of identity thieves searching through a potential victim's trash for pertinent information.

You can also thwart identity thieves by carrying only as much identification as necessary at any given time. In particular, don't carry your social security card in your wallet; keep it at home with other important documents, ideally locked in a fireproof safe. Should you ever find that your wallet or purse has been lost or stolen, you will want it to contain as little information as possible.

Finally, it is important to write down and keep safe the account numbers of all your bank accounts and credit cards. If you also record all of the telephone numbers to the places where you do financial business it will help quicken the process of documenting felony, preventing criminal acts that would be detrimental to your credit.