According to the Privacy Rights Clearing House there are at least 9 million cases of identity theft each year in this country. The same source defines identity theft in two ways:

•Account takeover which occurs when a thief acquires your existing credit account information and purchases products and services using either the actual credit card or simply the account number and expiration date.

•Application fraud or true name fraud which happens when a thief uses your Social security number and other identifying information to open new accounts in your name.

The site lists over 40 ways you can prevent or avoid identity theft. Although the amount of information can seem overwhelming at first, if you work through it bit at a time, you'll soon know exactly what you need to do to protect yourself.

You'll also find links to other sites that you can trust. Privacy Rights Clearing House is a source of information about all aspects of privacy.