1.  Shred any mail or financial papers containing your personal financial information.

2.  Call 1-888-5OPTOUT (888-567-8688) or visit www.optoutprescreen.com and ask to stop credit card companies from sending you pre-approved credit card applications. 

3.  Ask your credit card company to stop sending you "convenience checks".  They are ticking time bombs for identity theft.

4.  You are entitled to one free credit report each year.  Go to www.annualcreditreport.com and order one each year.  Review it carefully.

5.  Order a credit report a month or more before you make a big purchase or apply for credit to be sure there are no surprises on your report.

6.  Question companies that ask for personal information, such as your phone number at a check-out line.  Don't provide any personal information.

7.  It's impossible to tell what's real and what's fake online.  Just delete any e-mail that asks for personal information.

8.  Hang up on telemarketers, particularly ones who ask for personal information, e.g. your birthday.

9.  Limit the number of credit cards you hold and religiously inspect your financial statements each month.  Consumer rights quickly fade over time so the sooner you discover an identity theft incident the better.

10.  Most of the time you can't prevent an identity theft incident from occurring.  Two-thirds of the time the blame belongs to the company that leaked the data.  So be prepared and be organized.  Save paper bank records for at least a year.  You'll need them to prove your account balance in the event of an identity theft incident.