A recent study sponsored by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) revealed that almost 10 million Americans discovered they were the victims of some form of identity theft in a one-year period before October 2003. The cost of this crime approaches $50 billion a year, with the average loss from the misuse of a victim's personal information around $4,800. That’s why your credit union aims to provide you with all necessary information to help you prevent and detect identity theft. Click on a link below to learn more about that topic.   What is Identity Theft? Learn more about what exactly is Identity Theft, it's impact on people and who is most vulnerable to getting their identity stolen. How To Prevent Identity Theft We outline the steps to avoid being a victim as well as how to safeguard one of the most important numbers you have - your Social Security number. Detecting Suspicious Activity If you suspect you're a victim of Identity theft, you need to act now. You'll learn the investigative steps to doing just that. What To Do if You Fall Victim What do you do if you are already a victim? The Answer: Act Quickly. Closed Account Notification System (CANS) The CANS system will allow you to further protect yourself against ID Theft by authorizing the credit union to submit information about your fraud to check verification companies so that in the future you cannot be accused of passing bad checks.