First, the hard figures from a study done for the Federal Trade Commission.

In 2005, 8.3 million Americans had their identities stolen through misuse of their credit card, banking or telephone accounts.

In 2006, thieves targeted young adults (ages 18-29) in Maine, with that group making up nearly a quarter of all cases of identity theft in the state. Though Maine’s total of 525 cases that year seems small when compared to a quarter-million cases nationwide, the number is still troubling.

Those are the known cases. In what’s termed synthetic ID theft, a crook uses some real information about a consumer and simply makes up the rest. These numbers are impossible to know.

After their identities were stolen, people reported a range of problems: being harassed by debt collectors, credit problems, having loan requests turned down, banking and insurance problems, even having their utilities cut off.

Victims most commonly found out their identities had been stolen by reviewing their accounts. Once they discovered problems, they spent varying amounts of time resolving them (one study put the figure at 40 hours on average).

A 2006 survey by the Better Business Bureau put price tags on all this: more than $50 billion per year in losses nationwide. While the number of cases appeared to be dipping slightly, the average loss was on the rise.

So how do you protect yourself? Do what 70 percent of Americans do and, once you’re done with them, shred papers containing personally identifying information. Shredding has cut ID theft from trash to a fraction of all such crimes.

In addition:

. Monitor bank and credit card account information regularly. Report any suspicious charges immediately. If you can check online rather than waiting for monthly statements, do so.

. If you receive what looks like credit card junk mail, open it to be sure it’s not a letter alerting you to accounts opened in your name or an address change you didn’t authorize.

. Order a copy of your credit report regularly. You’re entitled to a free report each year from each of the three reporting agencies; order one now, one in four months, and another four months after that. Repeat the cycle for an ongoing look at your credit rating. Go to www.annualcreditreport.com or call 877-322-8228.

. Don’t carry your Social Security card in your wallet. If your wallet is lost or stolen, thieves can open accounts with your number. You have no right to be notified that someone else is using it; that would violate the privacy of the thief!

. Protect other cards carrying your ID. Social Security numbers are still visible on Medicare cards carried by more than 40 million Americans. The federal government is deleting SSNs from veterans’ benefit cards and should, in our view, do so wherever the numbers appear.

. Handle credit and debit cards carefully and keep them away from snooping eyes.

Next week: digging in to prevent ID theft by computer.

Consumer Forum is a collaboration, now in its 30th year, of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast CONTACT, Maine’s membership-funded nonprofit consumer organization. Individual and business memberships are available at modest rates. Interested and motivated prospective volunteers are always needed and welcomed to apply to help with our mission. For assistance with consumer-related issues, including consumer fraud and identity theft, or for more information, write: Consumer Forum, P.O. Box 486, Brewer 04412, or e-mail contacexdir@live.com.