The best way to find out if someone is fraudulently using your Social Security number or opening accounts in your name is to request copies of your credit reports at least once a year and carefully review each one. If there is an account on there you don't recognize, you may be a victim of ID theft.

It's easy to obtain your credit reports. Contact each agency via phone, online or in writing to request your copy. If you write, you will need to include your full name, date of birth, current and former address, Social Security number, your spouse's name and your phone number. Each person requesting the report should sign the request.

Get a copy of your report from each of the three main credit-reporting agencies -- TransUnion, Equifax and Experian.

Thanks to a new federal law you'll now be entitled to one free credit report from each of the credit reporting agencies per year. Consumers in western states became eligible to request their free annual credit report Dec. 1, but if you live on the East coast you'll have to wait until Sept. 1, 2005. To find out when you become eligible to receive a free credit report, check out Bankrate's map.

The new ruling doesn't replace the other ways to receive a free credit report. You're still entitled to a free credit report if: you've been denied a loan, insurance or job based on your credit report; you're applying for unemployment or receive public assistance; and you currently live in a state that already offers an annual free credit report from each credit reporting agency (Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey and Vermont. Georgia residents are entitled to two free annual credit reports from each credit reporting agency.).

If you want to look at your credit report more frequently, you can also buy your reports for as much as $9 each.

Another way you can stay on top of your identity is credit monitoring -- a fee-based service offered by all three credit agencies. It's retroactive protection -- notifying you when someone has applied for credit in your name.

Here's how to read and understand your credit report. If you find a mistake, follow these 8 steps to clean up your credit. This identity theft worksheet will help you track your calls. Use these form letters to request your reports or to request that corrections be made.

Act quickly if you suspect someone is fraudulently using your Social Security number. First contact the Social Security Administration's fraud hotline at (800) 269-0271 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern, or e-mail: OIG.hotline@SSA.gov.

-- Compiled by Dani M. Arthur, illustrations by Brandy Kesl

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