ReddingPilot.com published a great list—the 10 things every taxpayer needs to know about identity theft to avoid becoming the victim of an identity thief.

1. The IRS does not initiate contact with a taxpayer by e-mail.
2. If you receive a scam e-mail claiming to be from the IRS, forward it to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov .
3. Identity thieves get your personal information by many different means, including: stealing your wallet or purse; posing as someone who needs information about you through a phone call or e-mail; looking through your trash for personal information; accessing information you provide to an unsecured Internet site.
4. If you discover a website that claims to be the IRS but does not begin with ‘www.irs.gov’, forward that link to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov .
5. To learn how to identify a secure website, visit the Federal Trade Commission at www.onguardonline.gov/tools/recognize-secure-site-using-ssl.aspx
6. If your Social Security number is stolen, another individual may use it to get a job. That person’s employer may report income earned by them to the IRS using your Social Security number, thus making it appear that you did not report all of your income on your tax return.
7. Your identity may have been stolen if a letter from the IRS indicates more than one tax return was filed for you or the letter states you received wages from an employer you don’t know.
8. If your tax records are not currently affected by identity theft, but you believe you may be at risk due to a lost wallet, questionable credit card activity, or credit report, you need to provide the IRS with proof of your identity.
9. Show your Social Security card to your employer when you start a job or to your financial institution for tax reporting purposes. Do not routinely carry your card or other documents that display your Social Security number.
10. You can find more information on identity theft by searching “Identity Theft” on the IRS.gov home page.

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According to ABC News Online, fake credit cards have become so realistic that cashiers are accepting them 99 percent of the time.

At the annual National Identity Crime Symposium, police revealed that organized “shopping gangs” in Australia are using healthcare cards, driver’s licenses and even library cards to pull off identity theft scams.

They copy plastic cards and use them to make purchases at stores. “The fake credit cards are so good that for the past five years the many arrests that we’ve made, the quality of the counterfeit credit cards are so good that a merchant has never identified it as being fake,” said one police officer.

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According to CR80 News, Boston’s Tufts University is using new student IDs that will bring more features and added technology, separating student ID and account numbers for juniors and seniors who still have a single number for both purposes, bringing Tufts in compliance with a 2008 Massachusetts law aimed at combating identity theft.

Under the law, financial data must be kept separate from personal information. Since account numbers, which allow students to make purchases, are linked to stored-value accounts, they are classified like credit cards under the law and must be kept distinct from student ID numbers.

The new IDs will also feature an internal chip to facilitate access to dorms, and replace the university’s previously used fob technology.

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