Criminals rely on our mistakes to make their job easier. Taking a few precautions will make you less attractive to predators. Don't leave mail in your mailbox overnight or over the weekend. Thieves wait for that red flag to go up to score an outgoing check or other personal information. When writing checks and filling out important documents, use a gel pen, like the uni-ball(r) 207, so thieves can't remove the ink and change the information. These pens trap the ink within the fibers of the paper, making it essentially impossible for check washing to occur. Additionally, shred or tear up unwanted documents that contain personal information before discarding them. The cost of a high-quality shredder is far less than the cost of having your identity stolen.

Let's face it; we can't always control what is happening in our world, so we must take steps to control what we can. Technology is here to stay, but there are still simple and inexpensive ways to prevent identity theft when writing checks. Remember that a crook always looks for the easiest route to riches. Don't hand him a map. Be proactive and start protecting yourself today.

Frank W. Abagnale, Jr. was a check forger for five years in the 1960s. Currently he runs Abagnale and Associates, a financial fraud consultancy company. His life story provided the inspiration for the feature film Catch Me If You Can, nominally based on his ghost-written biography of the same name. His latest book, Stealing Your Life was recently released in April 2007.