It's not just on the Internet that you have to protect your Identity.

...you have to look to the way you conduct your day to day life as well.

Use your common sense

Your details are everywhere about you, on your letters, on the forms banks and the like send you, on your bank statements, on your credit cards.

Shred your documents

Use a cross-cut shredder that concerts paper to confetti. Use it to destroy anything that has your details on it, papers, credit cards, computer disks.

Inform everyone when you move house

Just imagine your bank statements being opened by a stranger. They'd know everything they needed to know to open a credit card account in your name.

Check you bank statements

Look out for unexpected transactions and be on the phone to your bank or credit card supplier the moment you spot something wrong.

..also your credit rating.

It cost money, but if someone's using your name to by a yacht in the Bahamas this is the first place it will show up. In the UK you can use http://www.callcreditcheck.com who will charge you a small fee.

Keep your bank and card operators informed.

If you tell them in advance that you're about to travel abroad or make a special purchase it's much easier for them to spot unusual transactions and block them. Then they have no excuse if they fail to spot a rogue transaction.