Have you heard the term straight from the horse's mouth? While it's okay to learn about protecting yourself from books and law enforcement agencies, the real teachers are the reformed identity thieves themselves.

According to the U.S. Postal Service, there were almost 12 million incidents of identity theft in the United States in 2006 at a cost of 6.3 billion to consumers. This alarming statistic has increased the alert level of many consumers; however most are still unaware of the specific tactics these identity thieves use. After an extensive interview, one notorious identity thief, revealed 4 misconceptions she used to separate you from your money.

Misconception # 1 There are More Male Identity Thieves Than Female All to often when we watch television or read the newspaper, we are presented with images of identity thieves portrayed as men. This could not be further from the truth. In fact, many of these criminals are young attractive women. Research has proven time and time again that both men and women tend to relax themselves around other women. These criminals use this to their advantage. Just remember, everyone is a potential thief. While you should not be nervous, you should be careful.

Misconception # 2 Trusting Your Friendly Store Clerk or Waiter This one is hard to combat because in most cases you are required to hand over personal information and or documents to store clerks or waiters at restaurants. What you may not know is that some of those people who are waiting on you may in fact have two jobs. By day they work in the local department store but at night they have a side job. Their side job is simply to provide a few customers credit card numbers to their friends. This works so well because they have access to your credit card or account number. The only way to really combat this is to review your account statements. It is also a good idea to keep a journal of expenditures greater than a certain dollar amount.

You might also consider setting a spending limit. An ideal example would be about $100. Now, you can alert yourself every time an expense occurs over that amount. Think about this for a moment. The average cashier will handle literally hundreds of personal transactions in a few weeks time. Do you think it might be possible that of those, some customers bought more than they were expecting to buy?

Misconception # 3 Throwing Your Unopened Mail Away Here is a fact that you don't need much research to prove. In a month's time, you are likely to get between 12 to 60 credit offers by mail. Most people throw these offers out with the envelopes unopened. More credit savvy people shred their offers and then throw them out. The problem with the first idea is this, what happens when you take your trash out? Yes, you go back into the house or you get in your car and go to work. Who do you think knows your routine better than you do? That's right, our friendly neighborhood identity thief. Now for my shredders out there, good job on shredding the offers but that still is not enough. These days, my crooks are finding ways to piece these documents back together because most home shredders only cut one way.

Always remember that one man's trash is another man's treasure. These crooks do not play fair. Consider this, you can spend a few minutes taking these precautions or you can spend a few months and in some cases years fighting to restore your credit and your good name.

Tip: After you shred your documents, add a little water to the bag before you seal it and then toss it. Not only will the pages be sliced and diced but will also be a wet and soggy mess, completely unusable by anyone.

Misconception # 4 Having Mail Delivered to Your Home Are you starting to see the point now? At all costs, you must maintain your privacy. Why is this important? Well, if your mail sits unattended, it won't be long before someone attends to it. You get the idea.

Here is a simple tip. First, drop all of your outgoing mail in a local United States Postal Service mailbox. Second, consider opening a P.O. Box. I know this seems inconvenient but to truly protect yourself, these are some of the preventative measures you must take to win the fight against identity theft. The real problem is that there are so many opportunities to become a victim; you really need 24 hour protection.

Stop trying to make it without help! Listen, very few people can successfully protect themselves and their families without help. The major problem is that you have been trying to do it alone and it is just NOT effective. How much difference would it make in your life if you had a proven guide who has been in the trenches? There are many companies that provide affordable identity theft solutions for people like you and me.

However, before you join a credit monitoring service of some type, make sure that they have the stamp of approval from consumers and police officers alike.