Think your friends would never commit identity theft? Think your neighbor would never break into your house? After all, you live in an upscale neighborhood and associate with educated sorts. You're safe, right? Wrong. A recent identity theft case proves you just don't know who you can trust.

If there's an industry that has its critics, it's definitely that of identity theft protection services. The naysayers insist these services can't live up to their promises. Then there are those who swear by them. Who's right and who's wrong? Let's shed some light on the subject.

Most of us think of credit cards and car loans when we think about identity theft. The sad thing is, medical identity theft is becoming just as common. With today's health care crisis more and more people are turning to identity theft to meet their medical needs. Here's how to protect yourself from becoming one of the identities stolen.

There are probably a hundred small steps we can all take to prevent identity theft from happening to us. So why aren't more of us doing something about it? Because we fall into a sense of complacency. A feeling of "It can never happen to me." That sense of security can cost you. If you're not doing anything to protect yourself from identity theft and you think there are just too many steps to take, why not start with these four...

When a crime is committed we like to think that it's the criminals to blame. After all, you can't blame the victim. However, in the realm of identity theft sometimes there's more than one party at fault. Don't get me wrong - the criminal is definitely to blame, but they're usually not the only ones...

Preventing identity theft has gone high tech in many regards. You've got Internet security programs, identity theft protection services and other helpful and powerful prevention tools. The problem is, with all of these advanced identity theft tools many of us forget about the basics. Here's a review of some of the fundamental identity theft prevention steps we should all be taking.

You'd like to think that the government works for us, not against us - especially when it comes to identity theft. It seems, however, that the United States Postal Service has actually helped identity theft criminals in some instances. If you want to make sure the USPS doesn't help steal your identity, here are some things you need to know...

Vacation is supposed to be fun, so the last thing you should be worried about is identity theft, right? Wrong! In fact, the only time my mother-in-law had ever been the victim of identity theft is when someone from a tourist store stole her credit card information. She remembered it happening because they took a "carbon" of her card and gave her a shady excuse when she asked why. Sure enough, a few days later she had fraudulent charges on that card. Turns out the store employees had been doing that to out-of-towners for quite a while. If you want to stay safe from identity theft when you travel, here are some things to consider.

The thing that frustrates us the most (those of us concerned about identity theft) is that criminals seem to get away with it with little more than a slap on the wrist. What's to stop the crime from occurring if the punishment isn't severe? Well my friends, we have something to celebrate this week. It seems that someone is finally making identity theft criminals pay for their crimes.

You won a prize! You're being considered for a wonderful job! You've been found to be the relative of a deceased billionaire who left you his fortune! Sound too good to be true? It is. These are the hooks that many identity theft criminals try to lure you in with. If you don't want to fall victim to some of the more common identity theft scams, these are some things you need to watch out for.

We say that identity theft is a crime that can hit anyone. That no one is safe, regardless of where you life. And that's true -- to a point. While you may be at risk of identity theft no matter what area of the world you reside in, it seems that Arizona residents are more at risk than most.

You really hate to think of yourself as a suspicious individual - someone who thinks there are criminals lurking in every corner - but the fact of the matter is that being that way sometimes can help keep you from being a victim of identity theft. While you don't want to see the evil in every person you meet, you need to protect your information from everyone - and that means people you might usually trust with it.

When we think about identity theft, it's usually financial crimes that come to mind. We usually think of some low-life criminal who steals someone's information for monetary gain. In reality, identity theft doesn't always have to do with money. Sometimes it's just cold revenge, as a recent California case clearly reflects.

With recent news of the upcoming tax rebate checks, identity theft criminals have once again found a way to make a good thing go bad. There's a big scam involving these checks and if you're not careful, you could be the next victim. Here's what you need to know to stay safe...

The other day I saw a LifeLock identity theft commercial on television and was rather shocked by the whole thing. I wasn't even really watching television -- it was mostly playing in the background. I noticed the commercial was for LifeLock so I took a closer look and suddenly realized there was the CEO's social security number blazoned across the TV screen. And that's when I found myself asking this question - is LifeLock's commercial an ingenious display of the company's confidence in it's services or evidence of a false sense of security?