Research shows that 10 million individuals will become a victim of identity theft this year. Chances are you too will become a victim of identity theft unless you are aware of the ways your identity can be stolen. Once you know how your identity can be stolen, you will be able to defend yourself against becoming a victim. Therefore, your first line of defense is knowing a thief’s offense. The following are six ways you your identity can be stolen.

One way your identity can be stolen is through a lost or stolen wallet. Once thieves have your personal information from a driver’s license, social security card or other identifying information from your wallet, they can open credit card and utility accounts in your name. They can also charge large amounts of merchandise on your credit cards. Thieves may also use your identity when dealing with the government to obtain public services, get a driver’s license or official ID card issued in your name, but with their picture, or even give out your personal information when arrested. Some thieves have even been known to use someone else’s identity when applying for jobs in order to use their background to pass criminal screenings.

The second way your identity can be stolen is by becoming too comfortable with your day to day happenings. When you become routine in your schedule, you tend to let your guard down and fail to protect your personal information, especially your financial information that is on paper. Identity theft crimes are more likely to be perpetrated by someone you know or with whom you feel comfortable. For example, if you employ someone who works within your home, you will need to be sure that your personal papers are in a secure location within your home. Also, be aware of those cashiers who process your credit cards for you. Untrustworthy clerks can duplicate your credit card receipt or use a special device to capture your data.

Another way thieves can access your personal information is by scouring dumpsters or trash cans and to find receipts from financial institutions or pre-approved credit card applications. Thieves then use this information to create counterfeit checks or open credit card accounts in your name. Mailboxes are also locations where thieves can steal checks, bank statements and other financial documents before you ever know they are missing. Monitoring your incoming and outgoing paper mail and shredding all financial documents before trashing them is crucial to protecting your identity.

A fourth way thieves steal your identity is through telemarketing phishing scams. Callers may pretend to be an employee of a popular company, such as Wal-mart, and indicate that there was a problem with your payment. Most people fall for this type of scam hook, line and sinker. It is also important to be careful about what you tell others about yourself when on social websites or employment websites. Identity thieves are great at using any tidbits of personal information to take over someone’s identity.

The fifth way thieves steal your identity is by watching your actions at ATM’s. Thieves are literally looking over your shoulder and stealing your information. You should always be aware of your surroundings when using automated teller machines. Thieves look to see what numbers you type in when entering your pin. They then follow you, wait for a chance to get your ATM receipt, and then gain access to your bank account.

The final way to have your identity stolen is to, quite simply, fail to put protective measures in place to keep thieves from gaining access to your personal information. It doesn’t matter whether you purchase identity theft protection services or put your own steps in place to protect your identity, the fact that you are not protected will leave you susceptible to having your identity stolen.

When it comes to knowing how your identity can be stolen, what you don’t know can hurt you. Learning the 6 ways your identity can be stolen is the first step in being knowledgeable about protecting your identity. What you choose to do with this knowledge is up to you. If you don’t do something regarding your identity, a thief certainly will.

Although the federal government has made it possible for each citizen to protect their identity by accessing free credit reports, initiating free fraud alerts and, placing their name and contact information on “do not call” or mail lists, many individuals do not realize that they must continuously request these “free” services in order to continue to protect their identity. When you consider the amount of time it takes to repeatedly request these “free” services and calculate the risks involved in forgetting to put these protective measures in place, “free” can turn into thousands of hours spent trying to restore one’s good name and credit and thousands of dollars of financial ruin. When it comes down to it, if time equals money, then free is not “free” when it comes to protecting your identity. There is however, an economic way to protect your identity and prevent identity theft through a company called LifeLock. LifeLock’s Identity Theft Prevention services can help you protect your identity and prevent identity theft in six valuable ways.

1. Fraud Alerts - A Fraud alert is a “flag” placed on your credit report that notifies a lender that they must, among other things, verify that you are who you say you are before credit is issued in your name. Fraud alerts are free; however, after 90 days, you must contact the credit bureau and request that another fraud alert be placed on your credit report. LifeLock takes care of requesting Fraud Alerts for you by making sure that alerts are continuously requested every 90 days. Through this service, LifeLock ensures that there are no lapses in Fraud Alerts on your credit report.

2. Do Not Call or Mail Lists - One of the easiest ways for thieves to steal your identity and affect your credit status is by stealing pre-approved credit card offers from your mailbox or calling under the guise of a telemarketer telling you that you have won a free trip and asking for your personal information, as well as a credit card, to pay for the expenses not covered by the award, i.e. room taxes. The best way to prevent this type of identity theft is to remove your name from calling or mail lists; however, this must be done on an annual basis. LifeLock makes it easy for you to continuously remove your name from solicitation lists by doing these steps for you on an annual basis.

3. Credit Reports - LifeLock protects your identity by ordering your free credit reports from the credit bureaus, on your behalf, and sending these directly to you. This way you can check to see if you have had any unauthorized loans or credit cards opened in your name.

4. WalletLock - Ever lost your wallet? Every thought you lost your wallet? Chances are the first thing you did was to experience a sense of fear and panic. The second thing you probably did was to think, “What was in my wallet and how do I stop someone from using my credit cards?” With LifeLock’s WalletLock system, there is no need to feel fear or panic if you lose your wallet. Through WalletLock you will be able to identify what was in your wallet and will be assigned a WalletLock specialist who will help you contact each credit card company, banking institution, and any state and federal agencies who issue driver’s licenses, etc. to cancel the accounts and to begin the process of reinstating missing documents.

5. Identity Monitoring -LifeLock provides an additional way of preventing identity theft from occurring through its eRecon and TrueAddress systems. eRecon protects your identity through searching criminal websites for the selling or trading of your personal information and notifies you if such use is discovered. TrueAddress works by detecting any change of address information attached to your name in nationwide databases. You will then be alerted if a criminal tries to steal your mail or obtain your financial information by attempting to change your address. LifeLock also ensures that new bank accounts are not opened in a member’s name by monitoring check systems.

6. Recovering Your Identity - LifeLock understands that there is no way to prevent all forms of identity theft from occurring. Therefore, LifeLock offers a $1,000,000 total service guarantee if someone happens to discover a weakness in their system and uses it to steal your identity. If necessary, LifeLock will provide attorneys, investigators, accountants, case managers, etc. to restore your good name and, if you lose money as a result of the theft, LifeLock will reimburse you the amount of money lost.

The decision to protect your identity and the way in which you go about protecting your identity is completely up to you. There are ways to protect your identity which will only cost you in terms of time and effort; however, there is no guarantee that you will recover your money and good name if your identity is stolen. Then there’s LifeLock’s Identity Protection and Theft Prevention services that will save you time and effort in protecting your identity and preventing identity theft and LifeLock comes with up to a million dollar guarantee to recover your money and restore your good name if your identity is stolen.

With so many different identity theft protection companies available to consumers, choosing the right company can be a heavy burden. However, falling victim to identity theft and having to spend countless hours to clear your good name can be an even heavier burden. When it comes to choosing an identity theft protection company, it is important to weigh the pros and cons of each provider before choosing a company that is right for you and your family. LifeLock, an identity theft protection company, has time and time again outweighed the competition when it comes to protecting its members against identity theft.

To begin with, one pro of LifeLock is that they offer child identity theft protection services. At this time, LifeLock is the only company to offer credit checks and monitoring services for a member’s child who is under the age of 15. With the number of child identity thefts growing each year, LifeLock is leading the market in providing this needed service.

Another pro to using LifeLock is that LifeLock works to prevent identity theft instead of merely protecting members from the possibility of becoming a victim of such theft. While most companies provide identity theft monitoring services, LifeLock’s services are “pro”active in preventing identity theft from occurring in the first place. LifeLock’s identity prevention services include detecting when a member’s address has been illegally changed in national databases through their TrueAddress services; placing fraud alerts on your credit files; and monitoring the internet for black market activity regarding the illegal use of credit card numbers and social security numbers through their eRecon services.

An additional pro of LifeLock services is that LifeLock reduces the amount of pre-approved credit card offers that come in the mail and the number of telemarketing calls received. Phishing scams, or pretexting, are prime ways for identity thieves to steal your personal information, not to mention stealing identifying information from your mail box or trash can. LifeLock prevents identity theft by reducing the amount of access thieves have to your personal information.

The only con that could possibly be counted against LifeLock is that they do not perform daily scans of a member’s credit report as do some identity theft companies. However, LifeLock does pull credit reports annually and mail them to their members for review. In addition, LifeLock’s fraud alerts can immediately discover any unauthorized request for credit or loans and prevent fraud from ever making it to their credit report.

Finally, one of the best pros of using LifeLock is their $1,000,000 total service guarantee. Because thieves will inevitably find “a way around the system,” there is really no way to ensure that one’s identity will not be stolen. However, LifeLock does ensure that, if an individual’s identity is stolen while they are a member of LifeLock, LifeLock will provide attorneys, investigators, accountants, case managers, etc. to restore the individual’s good name and credit. In addition, if the individual loses money as a result of the theft, LifeLock will reimburse the amount lost.

When deciding which identity theft protection company is the right one for you and your family, it is important to weigh the pros and cons of each services provider. With several pros and hardly a con, LifeLock’s identity theft protection services will certainly meet your identity theft prevention needs, and then some. Unfortunately, identity theft is always going to occur. Fortunately, there’s LifeLock.