Picture this: All the money in your checking or savings account is gone. You receive bills from credit cards you don't own and never applied for.

You are a victim of identity theft. Using your personal information, a thief has created a "credit clone" of you. Identity theft is the nation's fastest growing type of consumer fraud. It is easy to commit, reversing the damage is difficult and perpetrators are seldom caught. It is up to you to protect yourself.

To help prevent ID Theft destroy the following information

Address labels from junk mail and magazines
ATM receipts
Bank statements
Birth certificate copies
Canceled and voided checks
Credit and charge card bills, carbon copies, summaries and receipts
Credit reports and histories
Documents containing maiden name (used by credit card companies for security reasons)
Documents containing names, addresses, phone numbers or e-mail addresses
Documents relating to investments
Documents containing passwords or PIN numbers
Driver's licenses or items with a driver's license number
Employee pay stubs
Employment records
Expired passports and visas
Unlamented identification cards (college IDs, state IDs, employee ID badges, military IDs)
Legal documents
Investment, stock and property transactions
Items with a signature (leases, contracts, letters)
Luggage tags
Medical and dental records
Papers with a Social Security number
Pre-approved credit card applications
Receipts with checking account numbers
Report cards
Résumés or curriculum vitae
Tax forms
Transcripts
Travel itineraries
Used airline tickets
Utility bills (telephone, gas, electric, water, cable TV, Internet)

CREDIT CARD FRAUD AND IDENTITY THEFT FACTS

Identity theft has topped the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) list of consumer complaints for the fourth year in a row.

Reports of Internet-related fraud accounted for 55 percent of the consumer fraud complaints filed in 2003, up from 45 percent in 2002. According to FTC data, Internet fraud cost American consumers almost $200 million in 2003, and victims lost $195 on average. The total loss to fraud was more than $437 million, about $228 per victim. Online auctions produce the largest number of Internet-related fraud complaints, according to the FTC.

The agency said it received 516,740 complaints in 2003, up from 404,000 in 2002, and about 214,905 (42 percent) were cases of identity theft. This was an increase from 161,836 complaints reported in 2002.

President Bush signed legislation in December 2003 giving consumer new identity theft protections, including free credit reports once a year and a national hotline by which to report identity theft. Under the legislation, businesses must black out Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, and debit card numbers on receipts, and medical information must be coded on credit reports. Credit bureaus are also required to share consumer information regarding identity theft with each other.