You should be aware that there are five aspects of identity theft that require your attention.

• 1) Financial Identity Theft, in which the imposter uses your personal identifying information to open new lines of credit, etc.
• 2) Criminal Identity Theft - when a criminal uses your personal identification information in place of his or her own to law enforcement. When you don't show up in court, a warrant is issued for your arrest.
• 3) Identity Cloning - basically, the perpetrator will be living and working as you - like Michael Berry. People who do this would be illegal immigrants, wanted felons, etc.
• 4) Medical Identify Theft - occurs when an individual impersonates you in order to gain access to medical care or hospitalization.
• 5) Identity Restoration - this is perhaps the most overlooked dimension.

Here are five tips on minimizing your risk of Identity Theft:

1) Don't give out personal information over the phone, through the mail, or over the Internet unless YOU have initiated the contact or are SURE you know who you're dealing with.

2) Guard your trash and your mail from theft. Put all outgoing mail in a secure mailbox (one of the big blue ones).

3) 3 words: shred, shred, shred. Get a good shredder. Don't settle for one of the cheapies just to save a few bucks - make sure you have, at least, a cross shredder.

4) Use cash at a restaurant rather than handing your credit card to a waiter you don't know.

5) Don't sign your credit cards. Instead, write the words, "Please ask for ID" in the space for a signature on the back of your card.

All that being said, these steps and many, many more will only help you minimize the risk. I like to equate it like this: the Federal Highway Safety Administration will tell you all sorts of ways you can minimize the risk of getting into an automobile accident - but, guess what? That doesn't mean you don't still need car insurance. All of these steps will help you minimize the risk, but it surely doesn't mean that it still won't happen to you.

.

So, what am I saying? Enroll in an Identity Theft insurance program.

Now, understand that all of "the big name" identity theft insurance providers will do the following: first, they'll enable you to obtain a copy of your credit report. Next, you'll authorize them to monitor your credit on a daily basis -instead of running your credit once a year like the FTC recommends. Next, they will each notify you if there is any suspicious activity regarding your credit with an email saying, "hey, there has been some suspicious activity, if you want the details, contact us." - remember, don't ever provide information to anybody who initiates the contact with you. Finally, each of the "big five" will provide you with instructions and/or "walk you through" the restoration process. That's what they all have in common.

Now, a couple of them have features that allow you to recoup expenses that you'll incur during the restoration of your identity (such as: notarizing, postage, telephone, travel, photocopying, time lost from work and the wages that are associated with that lost time, costs involved in getting police reports and fingerprints, and resource materials). So, you'll want to check for that.

Here are the "big name" providers:

• 1) Pre-Paid Legal (Indentity Theft Shield)http://www.prepaidlegal.com/idt/todddubose
• 2)Citibank - partnered with Trilegiant, and their product is called Privacy Guard. (http://www.privacyguard.com/)
• 3) Credit Watch - http://www.equifax.com/
• 4) Identity Guard -offered by insurance agents - http://www.identityguard.com/.
• 5) Triple Advantage - http://www.experian.com/.
• 6) Lifelock for People - http://www.lifelock.com/
• 7) Identity Theft Shield - available from a Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. associate through a marketing partnership with Kroll Worldwide

With the understanding that it is more a questions of "when" than "if" your identity will be stolen, what factors are important in choosing one insurance plan over another? All of them will monitor your financial situation by monitoring the credit reporting agencies and will even reimburse your for documented costs incurred to restore your identity. Effectively restoring your identity requires expertise well beyond a checklist of actions from the government or the insurance provider. You need to look for the most support possible to assist you in facing criminal charges, restoring your credible identity, and defending yourself with each of the affected financial organizations. You will require the assistance of trained investigators and legal counsel to wade through the mire of indignity and challenges you will face in re-establishing your good name.