You hear lots of talk about how to prevent ID theft: shred your trash, don't give out your account and Social Security numbers, etc. But the most underrated part of ID theft protection is detection. That's because we can fall victim at any time, through no fault of our own. Like these data breaches you hear about, or sloppy companies that throw your documents in the trash without shredding them.

So here are the three steps to detect. Hopefully you're already doing #1 and 2:

1. Check your bank statements at least monthly - watch for unauthorized withdrawals
2. Check your credit card statements at least monthly - watch for unauthorized charges
3. Check your credit report, which you can do for free three times a year. Here's how. If someone opens a new account in your name, this is your best way of finding out about it. All new credit cards, loans, mortgages and other such accounts hit your credit report soon after opening. You are entitled to one free credit report per year, per credit bureau. There are three bureaus. So we recommend you check one every four months.