The Federal Trade Commission has released steps to the general public on how to avoid the ill affects of the nation’s fastest growing crime: identity theft.

According to the FTC, identity theft has increased by more 25 percent in North Carolina during this past year alone. In 2007, approximately 6,000 residents in The Tar Heel State reported to authorities that they had been the victim of invasive crime. This past year, the number of reported victims skyrocketed to 7,609 cases. North Carolina is currently ranked 21st nationally in reported cases per capita of identity theft. Arizona, California, Texas, and New York top the chart of cases nationwide.

Even more shocking is the belief that 63 percent of those that have been victimized have not made a formal report to the FTC, meaning that the actual number of those affected by identity theft is considerably higher than what the released numbers indicate.

In order to educate millions of Americans of the dangers of identity theft, Life Lock, a Bessemer Venture Partners-backed company, is an industry leader in the field of identity theft protection. The company’s founder is so confident that the company’s services will protect consumers from identity theft that he has openly advertised his social security number on web sites and the sides of tractor trailers.

Wayne Ivey, a law enforcement liaison with Life Lock, said that identity theft can occur in various forms. Forgery of a social security number, dumpster diving, mail theft from a personal mailbox, and telephone scams are the leading vehicles of identity theft. Ivey also stressed the importance of exercising caution at the ATM and to be weary of ‘shoulder surfers’ who may be peering in over people’s shoulders, looking for personal identification numbers.

Telephone scams involving identity theft are also on the rise, Ivey said.

“When it comes to telephone calls, just don’t listen to them,” Ivey stressed. “Legitimate companies do not conduct business that way.

“If someone with the bank calls you asking you for personal information, such as your social security number, then you know it is a scam because banks already have that information on file.”

Although identity theft is extremely invasive and can ruin even the most flawless of credit reports, there are some steps consumers can take to avoid this fraudulent behavior. For one, Ivey said it is important for everyone to realize that identity theft can happen to anyone at anytime in their life; in fact, it probably will happen at some point to everyone. Vigilance may be everyone’s best defense against identity theft, Ivey said.

Important documents containing personal information should be shredded before they are discarded to prevent dumpster surfing. Any outgoing mail should be sent out at a centralized location such as a post office rather than personal curbside mailboxes.

“That little red flag we put up for outgoing mail is a dead giveaway for thieves,” Ivey said.

Ivey also said that small businesses such as ‘mom and pop’ operations are often the hardest hit from identity theft citing that he has seen many businesses like these go under as a result of the fraud.

“The worse case of identity theft that I have ever seen occurred a few years ago,” Ivey explained. “A lady I met did everything she could do to prevent and stop a case of identity theft, but it was just not enough to prevent it from damaging her credit.

“A few years later she and her husband were applying for a loan for a home and they had to file with four different lenders before they finally got a home loan,” Ivey said. “And even then it was at an elevated rate, all because she was a victim of identity theft.”