The art of detection or detecting risks for identity theft involves one key activity: constant monitoring of your credit. The second step is to monitor your own behavior both out in the real world and in the virtual world.

First, your credit report is your key to knowing what’s happening with your credit. It identifies all outstanding credit lines, who your lenders are, what your borrowing history has been, and how much you have in credit authority. Checking this report regularly is the key to spotting problems before they get bigger.

Other ways to detect attempts or the presence of ID theft include:

• Finding accounts you didn't open and debts on your accounts that you can't explain.
• Discovering fraudulent or inaccurate information on your credit reports, including accounts and personal information, like your Social Security number, address(es), name or initials, and employers.
• Failing to receive bills or other mail. Follow up with creditors if your bills don't arrive on time. A missing bill could mean an identity thief has taken over your account and changed your billing address to cover his tracks.
• Receiving credit cards that you didn't apply for.
• Being denied credit, or being offered less favorable credit terms, like a high interest rate, for no apparent reason.
• Getting calls or letters from debt collectors or businesses about merchandise or services you didn't buy.

Your computer can also help you detect fraud, if properly programmed. If you do not have it already, your home computer should have two things: a firewall and an anti-virus software with a fraud detection component. Many of the major software players such as MacAffee, Norton, and Zone Alarm offer the firewall and virus detection, but you want to look closely at internet fraud detection offerings as well. These software benefits give you notice of websites with phishing coding embedded in them, deceptive licenses or illegal redirection of your web browser to a fraudulent site, and Trojan detection embedded in the browser benefits of a specific webpage. Knowing how to detect these threats with the right software can help you avoid making a mistake in simple one computer click.