When you have finally accomplished the tremendous feat of regaining your good name, whether it is clearing all the fraud from your credit reports, your medical records, your criminal file, your governmental records, or all of the above, you should feel relieved that the arduous journey has ended.

Now, with all your awareness of the fragility of your identity, you need to create an action plan to safeguard all that you have regained. To that end, here are some things you can do to protect yourself going forward.

Federal law entitles you to two free credit reports in the year of your victimization; in some states, like California, you are entitled to one a month for 12 months. You are also entitled to get your free annual report from each of the three major agencies at www.annualcreditreport.com

You probably have written for your seven-year fraud alert, telling potential creditors not to issue credit without calling you first at the number you designated (cell phone). You may even have written to the credit bureau for a stronger security freeze, as Chapter 4 describes. You may wish to sign up for a credit-monitoring service, which will alert you to any changes in your credit report.

You also have rights to other free annual consumer reports under the FCRA. It’s a good idea to take advantage of getting your free disclosure of those as well:

Debit cards—the ones with the MasterCard or Visa logo printed on them—are dangerous because thieves can use the card without the PIN, online or by phone or fax, to commit fraud. Get an ATM card to get cash from an ATM machine or check your balance. You are safer using a regular credit card as long as you pay your balance each month.

Do not share details of your identity or life with people who don’t need to know the information. Keep financial data, your Social Security number, and other critical information at home in locked filing cabinets. Shred any financial, confidential, and sensitive documents you discard.

When you get monthly billing, bank, or investment account statements, scrutinize them for activity that could be signs of identity theft. Examine statements of benefits that come from healthcare insurers to see if the details are correct.

Whether a desktop, laptop, PDA, or smartphone, put a password on the device and encrypt the contents, so if stolen, the thief won’t be able to read what is on the machine. Install and use firewall and anti-virus software.

Properly configure home network routers to use encryption and install security systems like firewalls. Don’t transmit personal, financial, or confidential data that isn’t protected.

If possible, don’t use checks at all. Your account number and routing number on the bottom of your check can be copied and printed by fraudsters to create checks on software purchased at any office store. The checks are not reviewed by the bank and the money is gone from your account before you know it.

If you must use a check, use a gel ink pen that cannot be acid-washed by fraudsters, who are known to erase the name of the recipient and change it to the fraudster’s name. Instead of sending checks out for payments from your home mailbox where they can be stolen, use the post office.

Better yet, use electronic online banking (making sure to secure your computer and to use complex passwords) and make payments from your own bank electronically to pay monthly bills.

Go to Google.com and sign up for a “Google Alert.” Enter your name in quotes and ask for a free e-mail alert when your name comes up on the Internet.

There are many things you can do to protect your identity and also to be more private. Develop a privacy consciousness. You may wish to get my book Safeguard Your Identity: Protect Yourself with a Personal Privacy Audit. In it, I give you hundreds of easy things to do to set up barriers to protect your privacy and identity.

In our society, no matter how careful you are, myriad companies and agencies have your Social Security number and complete profiles—including your bank, credit-card companies, health insurer, doctors, accountants, educational institutions … the list goes on. If they allow access to an unscrupulous or negligent employee, or if a hacker or burglar steals that information, that’s beyond your control. But the good news is that now you know the clues. You know how to intervene early, what steps to take, and you are empowered to guard your life. You may have been victimized, but you are not a casualty. You are wiser for the triumph!