Hi. My name in Mike Byrne and welcome to the Identity Theft Prevention Center.  Identity Theft is growing at a very fast rate.  The reasons are simple - opportunity and low risk to thieves.  You need to take steps to protect your identity from theft.  Most of these protection steps are very simple and common sense can go a long way to protecting your identity.

This site has been developed because I believe the internet is turning into a dangerous place for the unwary. There are too many scams and tricks being use to trick people into revealing identity information to thieves. I am deeply saddened by this. I have been using the internet since before the first browser. I have used it everyday for close to two decades. I want to continue using it without losing my identity to theft.

I am a computer professional. I was Director of Information Technology for one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. I was Chief Information Officer at a non-profit organization. I currently am a computer systems consultant to large companies. I have been working with computers and computer systems for over 26 years.

This site has been created to help people who are not computer experts to protect themselves from identity theft and  computer scams. There will be a lot of information, but I am also creating simple checklists that will summarize a lot of the information presented. My goal is to allow you to quickly take steps to protect your identity from theft. I plan to keep things as simple as possible.

• Reward offered in identity theft cases
  
  Reward offered in identity theft cases Houston Chronicle Copyright 2012 Houston Chronicle. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Published 10:16 a.m., Thursday, January 26, 2012 Harris County sheriff's deputies and Crime Stoppers are asking for the public's help to track down a suspect involved in numerous identity theft cases in the ...
  


• Identity theft insurance not always worth the cost
  
  Posted Jan. 22, 2012, at 8:30 p.m. The phrase “identity theft” has become one of those terms that makes one’s blood run cold. We’ve heard so many stories of financial losses, ruined credit and related horrors that we react emotionally to the subject.
  


• Preventing identity theft
  
  Identity theft is a crime that’s better prevented than pursued after the fact. That was the message former FBI agent Jeff Lanza delivered to his audience Thursday night at Parrott Bey.
  


• 13 tips everyone should know about identity theft
  
  These are the IRS' top tips to help you avoid becoming the victim of an identity thief.
  


• 3 charged in identity-theft scheme
  
  Two Detroit-area tax preparers were arrested today on charges they stole the identities of dead people from around the country and used their information to fill out more than 300 phony tax returns and bilk the government out of $800,000 in bogus refunds, the U.S. Attorneys office announced.
  


• COLORADO SPRINGS MAN INDICTED ON IDENTITY THEFT AND FRAUD
  
  DENVER – Randall V. Heath, age 51, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on Monday, January 23, 2012, for identity theft, false claims, fraud and mail theft, United States Attorney John F. Walsh, IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Sean Sowards, and United States Postal Inspection Service Oscar Villanueva announced.
  


• Man wanted for identity theft and forgery
  
  Crime Stoppers and investigators with the Harris County Sheriff's Office are searching for the person responsible for the theft of a Houston area citizen's identity.
  


• ID Watchdog and Tech Live Connect to Protect Consumers at Risk of Identity Theft
  
  DENVER, Jan. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ID Watchdog, Inc. (TSX.V: IDW.V - News) (OTC: IDWAF.PK - News), provider of identity monitoring and preservation tools, today announced a new partnership with Tech Live Connect, a service ...
  


• Make Sure To Protect Your Identity
  
  Ray’s Take Identity theft is any crime where someone uses another individual’s personal information in a deceptive way, usually for person...
  


• HCSO: Identity thief strikes again
  
  A man suspected of identity theft strikes again, officials with the Harris County Sheriff's Office say