That relaxed attitude may seem logical in the face of an average life that does not bring too many surprises. However, recent crime trends render the approach nothing less than dangerous.

Regular people find themselves suddenly victimized every day by the crime of identity theft. Sometimes they learn that their personal information has been compromised and used by another party only after they have lost job opportunities, chances to make major credit-based purchases (like a home), and other assorted problems.

In some cases, the knowledge comes far too late and even greater disasters are at hand. The theft of a Social Security Number in 1999 led to a Maine stalker locating the object of his attention and killing her.

Every day, we read about people learning ?they? have purchased everything from new automobiles to cellular phone service without knowing it. People wake up every day to find that their bank accounts have been emptied and their credit ruined while they went about their daily business.

And the problem is growing. Identity theft has been termed the ?crime of the millennium? and incidents are escalating at a rapid clip. There is no ?profile? for a victim--anyone can be hit. Identity theft is not a crime from which the rich are insulated or from which the poor have nothing to fear.

There are ways to defend yourself. That is why it is important for everyone to learn more about identity theft and how to respond to it. All responsible individuals should learn and implement some basic strategies for decreasing their exposure to identity theft. An action as simple as making a telephone call to one's local post office might be all that stands between ?business as usual? and utter disaster.

Fortunately, most of the things we can do to better protect ourselves are fairly easy to implement. There are some more involved options, but many highly effective techniques require little more than some awareness and diligence. Those who continue to ignore the growing identity theft crisis could protect themselves with a few easy-to-manage actions.

Even those who have already been hit by an identity thief need to learn more about the crime and defending against it. Do you know what steps you would need to take tomorrow if you discovered someone was wrongfully using your identity to make purchases? If not, you should. Are you aware of what options are at your disposal after being victimized? Again, everyone should have an answer in mind.

There are resources available that will provide anyone with the information they need to fight back against identity theft. Some of these resources are quite inexpensive, yet the information they provide is remarkably powerful.

Do you know how to better protect yourself against identity theft? Do you know what to do immediately if you believe personal data has been compromised? Who do you call when you think there may be a problem? What new changes in existing laws give you a great way to protect your personal information?

Most people will hunch their shoulders and shake their heads when confronted with questions like these. Even those who understand the magnitude of the identity theft crisis may not yet really know what they can do to protect themselves. The time for wondering is officially over. The problem is too large to keep on the backburner and all people should immediately seek out a comprehensive, high-quality resource to direct them in their defense against identity theft and its horrible consequences.

Identity theft is not going to go away. All expert analysis actually indicates it will continue to grow indefinitely. That is, of course, unless regular people who usually do not even think about their personal security and privacy begin to pay attention to the matter and learn to take actions to defend themselves from this violation.