The battle against identity theft rages on. Everyday, someone carelessly discards a receipt or bill and someone else gives out his or her social security number on the Internet. Everyday, somewhere in the Unites States and across the world, someone becomes a victim of identity theft.

The mail comes every week day and seems innocent enough, a function of life. While most of the mail that you receive is from companies that you've dealt with for years, not all mail that you receive is on the up and up. You might get bills or invitations to participate in offers based on your hard-won credit rating. Thieves also target financially stable individuals with offers that look official but are really just an attempt to obtain your personal details.

One way that you can reduce the risk of this occuring is to monitor the times your bills are sent. You can also try to reduce the amount of mail you receive. The biggest weapon you have is just being aware of what's possible.

Many common bills that you receive - utilities, telephone, regular credit card statement - usually have your contact details displayed on them. This is the kind of information that an identity theif looks for.

Bank statements, pre-approved credit card offers and paycheck stubs are all gold-mines of information for criminals to turn you into a victim of identity theft.

These seemingly harmless pieces of paper usually contain your name, address, account number, bank name and location. On some pay stubs, your employer may even include your social security number. Take care of these sensitive documents: shred them to help defend yourself against identity theft.

"Dumpster Diving" is a common practice of thieves collecting information. This requires them to scrounge through your last night's leftovers in the garbage in hopes to find that one golden nugget: your bank statement, your credit care receipts, or anything that has anything personal about you.

Many people throw out papers in the garbage, thinking no one would touch them amongst the food scraps. Think again. Do your best to remember to destroy any personal information and you'll be doing your job in protecting yourself against identity theft.

Tags: insurance, banking, debt consolidation