Being an unfortunate victim of identity theft will lead to a ruined credit and asset standing and will tarnish the good reputation you have tried so hard to achieve the past few years. Especially because of the prevalence of Internet use and our continued reliance on online financial and purchase transactions, it is more and more essential to protect yourself from Internet or credit card fraud. Frequently using the Internet will leave you open and vulnerable to identity theft, so you should take some simple precautions to achieve complete identity theft protection. In choosing a password for your email and other online accounts, do not be too obvious by using your name or your birth date: these information are readily available to potential criminals who could then easily crack and use your online accounts. Try to use a password that is easy to remember but hard to crack: a considerably long one which contains both letters and numbers should suffice. Finally, remember that the best protection from this crime is through identity theft prevention. Being aware of how these criminals can get your invaluable personal information is the first step in preventing this atrocious crime from being committed to you and your loved ones.