You lock up your house. But do you leave your life wide open? Most of us do. But you can make it a lot tougher on identify thieves. They're looking for an easy score. If you're information is hard to come by, they'll move on.

• Shred any sensitive financial or personal document before throwing it away. This includes credit card offers, old bills and life insurance documents.
• Never carry your social security card with you. Memorize it. And don't write it on another card in your wallet. Thieves are experts at spotting this. Don't have the number printed on your checks.
• Don't give out any personal information over the phone unless your POSITIVE you know whose on the other end.
• Never click on or respond to unsolicited e-mails or spam - no matter how "real" it looks.
• Use random combinations of letters and numbers for computer passwords. Thieves are good a figuring out the obvious, such as your mother's maiden name. Never use the last four digits of your social security number.
• Lock up your personal information at home to keep it safe from repairmen, roommates, outside help and even relatives.
• Inspect your credit reports regularly. Our Name Safe Protection makes this easy.