Place yourself under a credit freeze

Voluntarily freezing your credit restricts would-be creditors and the average person from gaining access to your credit report, limiting the chance that someone will be able to hijack your information to open a credit card in your name, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

Under a credit freeze, the companies you already do business with will still have access to your information. So will you. Freezes can be implemented and lifted for small fees, just make sure you do so with all three major credit companies, the commission says. Check your state's laws first — some only allow victims of identity theft to freeze credit reports.