Two years ago on a trip to Las Vegas, Erinn Figg was in a hotel lobby when a man started yelling for help. His hand was caught in the elevator doors. The benevolent person that she is, Figg ran over to help set him free. What she didn’t realize was that she was being scammed—the victim’s accomplice was behind her quietly stealing her identity.

“I was so engrossed in helping the man, I didn’t even notice the guy who was stealing my checkbook,” Figg said. The thieves had a getaway van waiting equipped with a lab. In five minutes, they created a new version of her driver’s license with another woman’s picture. Within 15 minutes, they cashed several of Figg’s checks. The crooks took her social security number off her health insurance card and applied for credit all over the country, including the Mall of America thousands of miles away from the incident.

They were caught a year-and-a-half later, but these professionals had been working this scam on the Vegas Strip for months before they victimized Figg.

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), 27.3 million Americans have been victims of identity theft in the last five years. It is estimated that this year alone, more than 10 million Americans will lose an average of $5,000 from identity theft. The effects of identity theft can last years. Two years later, Figg is still doing damage control to her credit.

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You may not be a target of a scam like Figg was, but don’t think identity theft can’t happen to you. Try talking to Robert Siciliano, CEO of www.IDTheftSecurity.com, who was searching the Web and found 65,000 credit card numbers in an online file. “These experts know what they are doing; all it takes is Googling the right information.”

Prevention is the key to fighting identity theft. Although there is no surefire way to prevent becoming a victim, you can minimize the risks by being very aware of all of your finances and taking certain precautions before traveling.

Don’t Stop Your Mail

Instead, have a neighbor pick up your mail while you’re gone. “These stop lists are compiled and can fall into the wrong hands,” Siciliano said. “Keep in mind that these days breaking into a home and stealing the stuff is the least profitable way for someone to rob you. Instead, if they know you’re not home, they go for a home office and steal personal identifying information.”

Before You Go
Review your current financial statements before you leave on a trip. Know what your outstanding debts are and note the date of this information. Review your credit report regularly and if possible, notify your major creditors and bank to let them know you are traveling should any suspicious activity take place on your account. (For example, you are in Europe and credit cards are being requested in California.) If you don’t feel comfortable doing that, check your balances regularly. If a house sitter, pet sitter, or anyone else will be in your home while you’re away, lock up any documents that are imprinted with your Social Security, credit card, or other identifying numbers.

Consider identity theft insurance—designed to help you recover both your identity and your recovery-related expenses, from taking time off from work and paying a lawyer for civil suits to notary and other fees and re-filing for loans. According to the Insurance Information Institute, these policies cost between $25 and $50 on average with annual premiums or monthly fees, depending on your package selection, provide $15,000 to $25,000 worth of coverage, and are offered by the following companies:

            * American International Group http://www.aig.com/

            * Chubb Group of Insurance Companies http://www.chubb.com/

            * Encompass Insurance http://www.encompassinsurance.com/

            * Farmers Group, Inc. http://www.farmers.com/

            * Travelers Insurance http://www.travelers.com/

Pack Light

Don’t travel with extra checks in your wallet, credit cards you don’t need, or a list of bank account numbers. The more information you give a criminal, the more [he] can steal your identity. “Don’t carry your Social Security number on you either,” Johnny May, author of Johnny May’s Guide to Preventing Identity Theft, said. “That number is key. Once a person gets that, [he] can do anything [he wants] to. You don’t need it to get back in the States if you are traveling internationally; you just need your passport. Memorize the number.”

Watch the Paper Trail

Don’t leave your receipts lying around in any hotel room, hotel safe, rental car or suitcase. Either destroy them or keep them on you.

While You Travel Be on Scam Alert

Another common scam is for a thief to call a hotel guest informing him that his credit card number needs to be verified and asking for the number. The guest, not realizing it isn’t the front desk that is calling, mistakenly gives the scammer the number he needs. “Be leery anytime you get an incoming call requesting personal information, in your hotel room or at home; go to the front desk instead,” May said.

Watch Your Wi-Fi

Most business travelers have laptops, but just because your wireless connection is free, doesn’t mean it’s also safe. David Garrison, chief executive of iBAHN, a leader in secure broadband to-go for business, reminds traveling wireless users that your security depends on your carrier. Otherwise you risk that other wireless users can see the information on your laptop.

“I was sitting with a client in an airport club and he had wireless software and he could see all of the information that another person had on [his] computer,” Garrison said. “In the last six months, the awareness of travelers and security is picking up and security has become more important for our customers.”

Companies such as IBAHN and T-Mobile have “hot spots” or venues, such as hotels and airports, where you can use secure wireless service. “Most wireless services are in public areas and you do not have this level of security,” Garrison said. “Your PDA should also have secure technology. Most corporations in America also have a VPN, or virtual private network, a little transmission tunnel so they can transmit personal information.”

Don’t depend on your firewall either. “The theory to a firewall is that it will stop people from intruding into a laptop, like a lock on the door,” Garrison explained. “The interesting ‘gotcha’ that people don’t realize is when the system asks if you want to download new updates to your computer. The computer knows you need these updates because it’s punched holes in the firewall and now I can look in.”

Return Trip Protection

Finally, when you get home and are throwing out receipts and other papers, use a shredder to assure that any papers with your account numbers and other personal information on it are properly destroyed and can’t be pieced together. Contact the institution immediately if you see any transaction you did not make on the financial statements you receive after you get home.

If you think you’ve become the victim of identity theft, act immediately. “It is important to first notify the creditors involved and file a police report,” Brette Sember, author of The Complete Credit Repair Kit (Sourcebooks), said. “A lot of people skip notifying police, but it is a crucial step because it not only provides evidence that you weren’t the one who ran up these charges, but also starts the police on the path to finding the person. You also need to place a security alert on your credit reports.”

Unfortunately, the credit effects and the emotional effects can last a long time. Nine years ago when Daniel Finch was traveling on vacation in New Jersey, he spent two days of his vacation repairing the damage done by someone who had gotten hold of his credit card information, withdrawn several thousand dollars in advances in Queens, New York, and bought a cell phone. “I put a notation on my credit report right away, but it will always affect me and I’ll always monitor it.”

For Erinn Figg, her financial life is still haunted by the effects of identity theft. “My life continues to be a living hell because I can’t have the conveniences that others [have] and [can] just call, or go online, and apply for a credit card,” Figg said. “I’m always going to have to monitor my credit and it’s added a whole level of worry and mild anxiety to my life that didn’t exist before. And sadly it makes me leery to help someone else the next time they need it.”

For more information on identity theft, visit the Federal Trade Commission Web site at www.ftc.gov.