Everyday more and more consumers are falling victim to identity theft. In fact, the mere act of identity theft is growing at an alarming rate as more and more people find themselves victim of this insidious crime. Millions of dollars continues to be lost by consumers who are unaware that their personal and financial information has fallen into the wrong person's hands. Fortunately there are some simple steps that you can take in order to help prevent identity theft from taking place. This article covers 6 tips on preventing identity theft.

Identity Theft Prevention Tip #1 Never, I repeat never give your social security number to anyone unless it is an absolute emergency or is truly required to perform some function. Instead only be willing to use the last four digits of your social security number as a means of verifying who you are. Many companies have now adapted this method as one means of verifying your identity.

Identity Theft Prevention Tip #2 Always make sure to check your end of month bills, especially your credit card bills in order to spot any charges that may not have been placed by yourself. Additionally make sure your bills actually arrive since many identity theft thieves are known to steal your mail in order to gain access to your personal information.

Identity Theft Prevention Tip #3 Routinely order your credit report from one or all of the big three credit reporting agencies in order to check it for any errors or accounts that may have been opened or originated due to identity theft fraud. If you find a discrepancy on your credit report notify the respective credit bureau immediately in order to fix the problem and ensure that it was not a result of someone attempting to hijack your identity.

Identity Theft Prevention Tip #4 Whenever you are asked to choose a password for any type of account or login make sure and take the extra step to formulate a password that will be difficult for an identity theft specialist to solve. Always avoid using easy to crack passwords that use your birthday or your spouse's birthday as the password. These types of passwords are common and make easy target for thieves after your identity.

Identity Theft Prevention Tip #5 Try to avoid giving out any of your personal information over the phone, in person or online if at all possible. One of the simplest ways to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft is to keep your private information private. Failure to do so can make you an easier target for someone to hijack your identity.

Identity Theft Prevention Tip #6 Always make sure to shred any type of financial documents or paperwork that contains any of your personal information on it before throwing it away. This simple act, which can be done rather quickly and easily, will help to thwart any type of attempt on your identity by an identity theft thief. Dont underestimate the power of safeguarding your personal information. It is your number one defense against preventing identity theft from happening to your or your loved ones.

Identity theft is a terrible crime and major source of frustration for anyone to have to go through. Utilize these 6 tips on preventing identity theft to safeguard your own personal information. These simple but effective tips will help keep your information where it belongs, in the privacy of your own safe keeping.