In addition, victims should file a police report in their locale. You should also notify the FTC, which maintains a database of ID theft incidents.

Regrettably, these steps typically take about six months to complete and involve, on average, almost 200 hours of effort as well as expenses that can amount to thousands of dollars. This unfortunate predicament is what Sereniti's indentity theft policy endeavors to remedy.

[Wade provided contact information for the various credit agencies. We've included them at the end of this article. -- Ed.]

David: Let's look at this in a step-by-step way. What are some critical steps we can take to protect ourselves?

Wade: Following are some tips consumers should bear in mind to protect their identities. Review your credit reports regularly (at least once a year) to look for credit activity that may not be your own doing.

Secure personal information in your home, especially if you have roommates, employ outside help, or are having work done in your home. Treat mail and trash with care. It's a good idea to buy a shredder to destroy bills and credit or bank statements.

Don't give out personal information on the phone, through the mail, or on the Internet unless you've initiated the contact or are sure you know who you're dealing with. Identity thieves are clever, and have posed as representatives of banks, ISPs, and even government agencies to get people to reveal their Social Security number, mother's maiden name, account numbers, and other identifying information.

Before you share any personal information, confirm that you are dealing with a legitimate organization. Check an organization's Web site by typing its URL in the address line, rather than cutting and pasting it. Many companies post scam alerts when their name is used improperly. Or call customer service using the number listed on your account statement or in the telephone book.

Give your Social Security number only when absolutely necessary, and ask to use alternate types of identifiers.

Be cautious when responding to promotions. Identity thieves may create phony promotional offers to get you to give them your personal information.

Look for Web site privacy policies. They should answer questions about maintaining accuracy, access, security, and control of personal information collected by the site, how the information will be used, and whether it will be provided to third parties. If you don't see a privacy policy, or if you can't understand it, consider doing business elsewhere.

David: Technology seems to be making identity theft worse. Can we also use technology to protect ourselves?

Wade: Consumers must absolutely confront this threat with technology. In this day and age, having antivirus and anti-spyware programs installed on all computers in the household is not enough. You must ensure that the protections are always up-to-date and running.

In addition, you should have a software firewall installed on their computers, and ideally have a hardware firewall in addition to protect your network from hackers. Parental control software is also a good idea, to help restrict children from sites that might manipulate them into installing spyware on a computer. Finally, keeping computers up to date with the latest OS patches is also necessary to ward off the latest hacker exploits.