Skilled identity thieves use a variety of methods - low-tech and hi-tech - to gain access to your data. Some methods include:

• Stealing your wallet or purse containing your identification and credit and bank cards.
  
• Stealing your mail, including your bank and credit card statements, pre-approved credit offers and tax information.
  
• Fraudulently obtaining your credit report by posing as a landlord or employer.
  
• Buying your personal information from "inside" sources. For example, an identity thief may pay a store, restaurant, or hotel employee for information about you.
  
• Taking information about you from the Internet.

While you probably can't prevent identity thief entirely, the Better Business Bureau, along with the Federal Trade Commission, advise the following to minimize your risks:

• Before revealing any personal information, find out how it will be used and whether it will be shared with others.
  
• Pay attention to your billing cycles. Contact your creditors immediately if your bill doesn't show up on time.
  
• Minimize the number of credit cards you carry; only carry the ones you need.
  
• Guard your mail from theft. Deposit outgoing mail in post office collection boxes or at your local post office.
  
• Keep items with personal information in a safe place. To thwart an identity thief who may pick through your trash to capture your personal information, you should tear or shred your charge receipts, copies of credit applications, insurance forms, bank checks and statements that you are discarding, expired charge cards and credit offers you get in the mail.
  
• Don't carry your SSN card; leave it in a secure place. Give out you SSN only when absolutely necessary. Ask to use other forms of identification when possible.
  
• Order a copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit reporting agencies- Equifax, Experian and Trans Union - every year. Make sure it is accurate and includes only those activities you've authorized.

If you become a victim, it is extremely important that you act immediately to stop the thief's further use of your identity. Report the crime to the police. Call your bank and credit card issuers. Contact the fraud unit of the three credit reporting companies. Request that a "fraud alert" be placed in your file, as well as a victim's statement asking that creditors call you before opening any new accounts or changing your existing accounts.