$9 per month or $1,180, You Choose!

Did you know that a victim of identity theft loses, on average between $500 and $1,180, and that is only monetary losses. That does not take into condiseration the time and stress involved with restoring ones identity.

Think it can't happen to you, think about these numbers:

• According to a study done by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2003, nearly 27.3 million Americans were victims of identity theft in the 5 years prior to the study.

• Nearly 9.9 million Americans are identity theft victims annually.

Other important statistics include:

• Americans spend 300 million hours a year resolving identity theft issues.

• Identity theft costs consumers and businesses nearly $53 billion dollars.

• 52% of all identity theft victims, or approximately 5 million people, discovered they were victims by monitoring their account.

This last statistic actually contained some good news. 52% of victims became aware of the fact that their identityhad been stolen. Unfortunately, though, it was after the fact.

Since the time of the FTC study, it has become much easier to monitor your accounts. To see your credit report, click here: See your credit score on FreeCreditReport.com

Today, there are also a number of companies that help you proactivily monitor you credit. The leading company in this area is LifeLock Identity Theft Services. LifeLock provides a proactive identity theft service, specializing in the prevention of identity theft rather than the reporting of it. LifeLock was founded in 2005 and is already considered the industry leader. They also provide a guarantee. To see more information, click their banner on the right.

You have a choice. You can protect yourself with LifeLock or you wait and become a victim.

Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.