Guarding Your Identity

Identify theft, possibly the most perfect Internet crime, has reached epidemic proportions in the U.S., according to the Federal Trade Commission's first national survey of the problem. The agency reported last week that 3.3 million Americans found within the past year that their names had been used to open fraudulent bank or credit-card accounts or to commit other crimes. An additional 6.6 million reported that unauthorized purchases had been made on their existing accounts. All told, traffic in bogus or stolen IDs costs consumers and businesses more than $50 billion. What can you do to protect yourself?

SHRED YOUR MAIL: Preapproved-credit-card solicitations should be shredded. Pay attention to the billing cycles of the cards already in your wallet as well. If they're noticeably late, call your issuer.

GUARD THAT SSN: Your Social Security number is they key to an identity thief's attack. Don't give it out unless absolutely necessary.

WATCH YOUR CREDIT: Place a fraud alert on your credit reports with the three credit bureaus: Experian (888-397-3742), TransUnion (800-680-7289) and Equifax (800525-6285).