The U.S. Postal Service has shown that there were close to 12 million cases of identity theft in the country for the year 2006; which totaled to approximately $6.3 billion to consumers. This ridiculous statistic most certainly made consumers more aware; but so many people still don’t know about the special methods these identity crooks use. At an exclusive interview, an infamous identity thief revealed 4 common myths she took advantage of, in order to prey upon the innocent.

Mistake #1: All Identity Thieves are Men

This is a quite common mistake that most identity thieves say make their job that much easier. A major problem is that the media always portrays identity thieves as men. However, most of these criminals are good-looking and well-kept women. You can easily dodge this trap, by being careful with your information around both men and women. Research has shown that both men and women let down their guard around women, as opposed to men. Just keep in mind that any one of us could be a potential identity thief. No need to become paranoid; simply be more careful.

Mistake #2: Trusting the Nice Store Clerk or Friendly Waiter

We understand this is probably one of the most difficult things to avoid, because we usually have to give our personal information at checkout or when the bill comes at the restaurant. Shockingly, some of the people who wait may have two jobs. During the day, they may work in the department store, and in the evening they take on a side job. This “side” job is sometimes a way to easily steal credit card numbers from their customers. It works like magic, because they have access to your credit card number in hand. If you really want to stay on top of this, you have to check your account statements. Keeping a journal of your expenses may be a good thing to help you monitor.

If you monitor your statement closely as soon as you receive them, the less stressed you’ll be, should a situation occur. Let’s think about it…how quickly can a person, working at a shopping mall or restaurant, get access to hundreds of customers’ personal data? You got it…very quickly! Our notorious identity thief revealed in her interview that most identity theft criminals work at these sorts of places for a few months, and once all the information is in-hand, they’re on the next flight to the Bahamas!

Misconception # 3 Tossing Out That Junk Mail Unopened

Whether you have good credit, great credit or terrible credit, it really does not matter. You will receive in a given month between 12 and 50 plus new offers each month to open new banking, credit accounts. The problem with this is that most of us are lazy. We fall in one of two categories. The first is a person who does not own a personal shredding machine and simply tosses the multiple credit offers in the trash or simply tears them in half and then tosses them. The second is the person who does own a personal shredder but has become too lazy to shred each and every piece of documentation sent to them.

Listen, all a thief has to do is get a hold of one piece of information from your trash can and you quickly become a victim. Dont believe me? Let me ask you this, what are doing at 3a.m.? Really, well guess what our trustworthy identity thief is doing? She is in your trash can randomly pulling a bag out of your can for shifting and sorting later. Tip: After you shred your documents, add a little water to the bag before you seal it and then toss it. Not only will the pages be sliced and diced but will also be a wet and soggy mess, completely unusable by anyone.

Mistake #4: Mailing or Receiving items from Your Home

By now you are beginning to see the point. Identity thieves commit their crimes in several ways. They steal credit card payments and other outgoing mail from private or curbside mailboxes. In fact, according to our expert, some will go a step further and file a change of address form in the victims name to divert mail and gather personal and financial data. Here is a simple tip. First, drop all of your outgoing mail in a local United States Postal Service mailbox. Second, consider opening a P.O. Box. I know this seems inconvenient but to truly protect yourself, these are some of the preventative measures you must take to win the fight against identity theft.

The biggest issue is that there are so many avenues in which to become a victim; stay protected all day every day. Don’t try to fix the problem alone!

It’s very difficult to protect yourself and your family, successfully, without help. Trying to do it alone can be worrisome and not very effective. It makes a huge difference when you have someone protecting you who has actually been through the storm! LifeLock is a company who has absolutely outstanding identity theft protection for everyday people.

When finding an identity theft protection service provider, make certain it has been recommended by law officials, and that the service will actually work in a real-life situation.

Identity Theft Prevention and Identity Theft Protection are nothing to joke about. STOP Identity Theft with LifeLock. LifeLock guarantees identity theft will NEVER happen to you. Please visit lifelock.com to learn more about how to protect you and your loved ones from identity theft.

Author Linda Seamore is a consumer advocate dedicated to educating people how to protect their identity. After months of exhausting research, she stumbled upon LifeLock.com the industry leader in ID theft protection. Life Lock is a proactive identity theft protection agency, specializing in prevention of identity theft rather than just the reporting of it.

1. Purchase LifeLock Identity Theft Protection Is identity theft protection really worth it? Many people would agree that identity protection is one of the most important services to have these days. More and more, criminals are turning to crimes involving people’s identity because it is a lucrative business. They are taking money from millions of Americans and American companies, and leaving you, the victim, to deal with cleaning up the mess. Get help and avoid identity theft with a service like LifeLock. It is really easy to sign up and definitely worth the money.

2. Review your credit with your FREE report Resident of most states have the right to receive one free credit report from each of the three bureaus annually. To retrieve your free reports, all you have to do is write, call, or go online. You can find the actual contact information through a google search or via a phone book. You can use these reports to dispute any claims that may be inaccurate or that may be the result of identity theft. Remember that you won’t get your credit score on these reports, but you can tell what good things or bad things are listed.

3. Call credit companies if you know you are going to make a late payment One thing that many people forget is that if you know you are going to be late on a payment, you can call your creditors and let them know that you are going to be late. Many times they will work with you to either make up a payment arrangement or will allow you a grace period in which to make your payment. In addition, they won’t report anything to the credit bureaus. Otherwise, if you don’t call, they will report this information. So save yourself the pain and communicate with these people.

4. Try to limit your use of credit One of the biggest problems that we are seeing in this country now is that people use credit for everything, even for grocery shopping. The fact of the matter is that credit should not be abused, and should only really be used for major purchases like homes, cars, home appliances or in emergency cases. The interest rate on credit cards is usually really high and most times the things we purchase with our credit cards are frivolous items that aren’t necessities.

5. Pay on time and above the minimum payment required When you do use your credit, it’ll be in much better shape if you pay on time. Never skip a payment or come in late without talking to your lender, and make sure you pay more than just the minimum. That’ll result in the best score, and keep you from experiencing any unwanted surprises.

LifeLock is an identity theft protection program that has been helping people protect their credit and their identities for years. It’s a great program, and many feel that Life Lock not only gives them a great program, but peace of mind as well. To find out more about LifeLock, go to www.lifelock.com.