Frank Abagnale is a highly repected authority on forgery, embezzelment and secure douments. For over 40 years he has worked with, advised, and consulted with hundreds of financial institutions, corporations and government agencies around the world. His life story influced the film and Broadway production, Catch Me If You Can. Below is an excerpt from his publication "Frank Abagnale's Tips for Protecting your Credit". To read the entire publication, you can visit his website http://www.abagnale.com/index2.asp.

Most people don’t think they’ll ever become a victim of identity theft or credit fraud. They feel it will always happen to “the other guy”… that their credit and identity are immune to theft. Unfortunately, identity thieves don’t have a preference for the age, race, sex, income or geographic location of their victims. If your personal information somehow makes itself available to a criminal, it’s up for grabs and you might be the last to know it’s been stolen. So let’s talk about you for a minute…or two. Have you taken steps to protect your identity? Do you place your personal information in potentially compromising positions? Are you sure that your identity and credit have not been compromised? To better answer these questions, we’ve designed a short Risk Assessment to help you determine if you might be at risk of becoming an identity theft victim. It’s very important to the safety and security of your name and your credit.