Our checklist can make it far more difficult for anyone to steal your identity -- and cost you a lot of time and money.

A recent Better Business Bureau survey shows why you need it:

• Nine million Americans a year have their identities stolen.
• The average victim spent 40 hours, or the equivalent of an entire work week, and ...
• $442 straightening everything out.

You also need it because there are so many misconceptions about identity theft:

• Seniors are not the most likely targets. Consumers in their 20s and 30s are.
• Only 10% of all stolen information came from computers or the Internet. The vast majority was pilfered from wallets, purses, checkbooks, credit cards, credit card receipts, mail or garbage.
• All of these thefts are not perpetrated by faceless, sophisticated gangs. Nearly half are committed by the victims' friends, neighbors, relatives, family members or in-home employees.

With that in mind, here's what you can do to make yourself a tougher target:

Step 1. Secure you Social Security Number

Carry your Social Security card only if you know you'll have to use it, such as when you are applying for a job, dealing with a government agency, opening a new bank account or doing anything else that actually requires the card. Otherwise, leave it at home; better yet, leave it in your safe deposit box.

Do not give your Social Security number out over the phone.

Do not put your Social Security number on your checks. Ask the Social Security Administration for an annual earnings and benefits statement to make sure that no one else is using your number.

If someone else is using your number and contributing to your account, at some point in the future you might have to fight them for your SS benefits. And if you do collect from "their" contributions, you could be committing fraud.

Step 2. Secure your credit cards

Carry only one or two credit cards with you at any one time.

Print "ASK FOR PHOTO ID" on the signature line on the back of your credit cards. You will have to show your ID more often, but your credit cards are less likely to be used by anyone else.

Have all the information you need to report a lost or stolen credit card readily available in a safe place. You can write down the account number, expiration date, security code on the back of the card and 24-hour emergency phone number you need to call. Or you can make photo copies of the front and back of each card. Just make sure you can read all of the numbers, including the emergency phone number, which is likely to be small print.

If a credit card expires and you don't receive a replacement, call the credit card company.

Protect your ATM and computer passwords. If you cannot remember them and must write them down, disguise them as phone numbers for mythical friends or relatives. But don't make it obvious. Listing phone numbers for Joe Password or Peter Pin won't really protect much.

While most receipts only reveal the last four or five digits, watch out for any that print the full number. Take special precautions to safeguard and destroy those receipts.

Cancel any credit cards that you do not use. Don't just cut up the cards. Call or write the company and tell them to close your account.

This could lower your credit score by reducing your total amount of available credit. One of the 30-or-so factors the formula measures is the percentage of available credit you are not using. But this also reduces the amount someone can steal.

Watch for unauthorized charges by saving your credit card receipts. If that's too much trouble, treat them the way you do checks. Start a "check register" for each credit card and keep a running tally, then compare it to your bill every month.

Notify all of your credit card companies as soon as you move. You don't want credit card statements or new credit cards going to your old address.

Step 3. Better shred than read

Buy a shredder and shred every document that contains any sort of information -- personal or financial -- that could help a thief "become you" long enough to run amuck through your credit.

This includes all those credit card and mortgage refinancing offers. Get a crosscut shredder that cuts the paper two ways. They are more expensive but they are worth it.

There are also shredders that will chop up plastic, such as credit cards and CDs.

Step 4. Use your computer more -- and more safely

Since only 10% of identity theft is based on information stolen from computers, use your computer for financial transactions.

If your company offers automatic payroll deposit, sign up for it. Sign up for online bill payments, too. Have your bank and credit cards statements sent to you by e-mail.

To make those transactions more secure, make sure you have a firewall as well as anti-virus and spyware programs, and update them regularly.

If you have a home wireless network, make sure it is encrypted, otherwise your neighbors -- or anyone who parks a car in front of your home -- could possibly access your network and your hard drive from a laptop computer.

Do not respond to any suspicious e-mails. Banks do not send e-mails asking you to update or confirm information that they already have. When in doubt, phone the bank.

While you cannot really "shred" your computer hard drive, you can wipe it before you get rid of it. Just hitting "delete" will not do the trick. The data are still there, and relatively easy to get at. There are programs that will actually wipe your hard drive.

If you do buy from an online merchant, deal only with those that have a privacy policy, and look for the Better Business Online seal or the Trust-e symbol that shows that the seller has been independently audited.

Before you use your credit card online, make sure you are on a secure site -- one that starts https instead of http -- or that the charges are handled in an encryption mode.

Step 5. Snail mail carefully

When paying a bill by mail, or sending a credit card number on an order, drop it into an actual mailbox. Do not leave it for your letter carrier to pick up. Crooks steel mail out of mailboxes.

Step 6. Know your credit report

Check your credit report for any credit activity or credit cards that are not yours. If you have five credit cards and your credit report lists eight, you need to get in touch with the other three credit card companies.

While you are at it, make sure that everything it says about you and your credit is correct. Each credit report lists instructions on how to file corrections.

You can get a free copy of your credit report every year from AnnualCreditReport.com. There are three major credit reporting agencies and they all carry pretty much the same information.

Stagger your free reports so that you can get one of them every four months. Or, you can pay to subscribe to any or all three of the services and be able to monitor your credit report whenever you want to.

They are:

• Equifax at www.equifax.com
• Experian at www.experian.com
• TransUnion www.transunion.com

By Stef Donev

Interest.com Contributing Editor

Have a question about your finances? Ask us at editors@interest.com.