Identity thieves commit their crime in several ways:

• They steal credit card payments and other outgoing mail from private, curbside mailboxes.
• They dig through garbage cans or communal dumpsters in search of cancelled checks.
• They hack into computers that contain personal records and steal the data.
• They file a change of address form in the victim's name to divert mail and gather personal and financial data.

To guard against identity theft:

• Never give out your Social Security number. Treat it as confidential information. 
• Commit all passwords to memory or save in a secured or encrypted file. Never write them down and carry them with you.
• When using an ATM machine, make sure no one is hovering over you and can see you enter your password.
• When participating in an online auction, try to pay the seller directly with a credit card so you can dispute the charges if the merchandise does not arrive or was misrepresented. If possible, avoid paying by check or money order. 
• Adopt an attitude of healthy skepticism toward websites that offer prizes or giveaways. Chances are, all that's been "won" is the opportunity to buy something you didn't want in the first place.
• Choose a commercial online service that offers parental control features.
• Tell your children never to give out their address, telephone number, password, school name or any other personal information.
• Make sure your children know to never agree to meet face-to-face with someone they've met online without discussing it with you. Only if you decide that it's okay to meet their "cyber-friend" should they arrange to meet this person, and then the meeting should be in a familiar public place in the presence of a trusted adult. 
• Tell your children never to enter an area that charges for services without asking you first. 
• Tell children to never send a picture of themselves to anyone without your permission.
• Make sure that access to the internet at your children's school is monitored by adults.