Identity Theft Protection

According to a Federal Trade Commission 2006 Identity Theft Survey Report about 8.5 million adults became aware that they were identity theft victims.

Identify Theft happens when an identity thief obtains some pieces of your personal information and use them, without your knowledge, to commit fraud or theft.

Identity theft has become so prevalent that many states have passed laws to protect consumers. On May 6, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland signed

* House Bill 46 - The measure, sponsored by Reps. Tim DeGeeter, D-Parma, and Jimmy Stewart, R-Albany, sets a $5 limit to block access to a consumer's credit history from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus. Public agencies also are blocked from releasing documents containing an individual's Social Security number, while consumers have the option of having information such as credit card or bank account numbers removed from public electronic documents.

Source: BizJournals.com

There are some steps that you can take protect yourself from being a victim of identity theft like immediately reporting lost or stolen credit cards and debit cards, not carrying your social security card in your wallet, never providing your personal information to anyone who contacts you through a phone solicitation, and checking your bills and bank statements as soon as they arrive.

Another option is to enroll with lifelock, a company dedicated to protecting your good name and who offers you a $1 million dollar service guarantee to recover your good name.

The best part about enrolling with lifelock is that it only costs $10 a month for complete identity theft protection. A small price to pay for protecting your good name.