Dollars and Sense: Identity Theft Challenge Quiz

The survey's results were sobering -- 10 million people in the U.S. fell victim to identity theft.

Credit card fraud is the most common form of identity theft -- a thief can commit credit card fraud by using an unopened credit card offer or by dumpster diving for old receipts.

Phishing is a way for thieves to trick victims into sharing personal information (such as bank accounts and Social Security numbers) voluntarily.

A thief can use a clone of a Web site to trick you into typing in sensitive information, or a keylogging program to record every keystroke you make. But DDoS attacks aren't meant to steal information -- hackers use them to overwhelm and crash Web servers.

Sometimes credit card fraud starts as an inside job. A store clerk can attach a skimmer on credit card machines and record information -- some can even record debit card personal identification numbers (PINs).

The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol allows mutual authentication between a client (your computer) and a server (the online business' machine). Eventually, the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol will replace SSL as the standard.

Look in your browser's address bar -- if you see "https" at the beginning of the site's URL, the site uses the SSL protocol. There may also be a lock icon in the browser's status bar.

You should limit your online purchases to just one credit card to make it easier to monitor account activity.

The third credit information service in the United States is TransUnion -- if you are the victim of identity theft, it's important to alert all three credit information services.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is charged with protecting America consumers from fraud and theft.