Everyone is concerned about protecting their identity these days. In this age of daily technological advances and connectivity, if you sign up for or receive any kind of service, then your personal information is out there. Protecting this information is of utmost importance.

If you’re a LifeLock customer, you know how valuable the service is. For $10 a month for standard service, or $15 for the enhanced LifeLock Command Center™ protection suite, you are assured that your information is secure. And you have peace of mind, knowing that if anything ever does go wrong, you won’t be on your own – LifeLock representatives will be with you every step of the way, helping put things to right. LifeLock will even spend up to $1 million to do so.

So why not recommend LifeLock to a friend this Christmas? LifeLock provides early notification of identity threats, and searches the Web for the illegal selling of personal information, and can even help cancel or replace the contents of a stolen wallet. And it’s so affordable. They can even save money when they sign up – they’ll receive 30 days free and get a 10 percent discount on enrollment when they use the LifeLock Promo Code “Defense.” Who wouldn’t want all of that in their Christmas stocking?

So send your friends to www.lifelock.com for Christmas. It’s a trip they’ll be thanking you for until, well, next Christmas!

Further investigation revealed that, according to the DCF background check, Quintana worked at the Fort Myers-Naples Dog Track. A call to the dog track revealed that, sure enough, there was an employee there using her complete name, birth date and Social Security number.

That’s when Quintana called the Lee County Sheriff’s Department and reported her identity theft.

Sheriff’s detectives arrested the identity thief December 16 at the dog track.

She said her real name is Stella Santiago. She confessed that she had been using Quintana’s identity since April 2008 and said she paid someone else $600 for all of Quintana’s personal information.

How much money would you say your identity is worth? It’s a hard thing to put a price on, unless you become a victim of identity theft and your personal information is bought and sold. In that case you might be able to put an exact monetary value on your name, date of birth and Social Security number—everything an identity thief needs to get a job, utilities and credit.

Visit LifeLock.com for more information on how they help protect the identities of almost 1.5 Americans. Enroll using LifeLock promotion code Defense to get their service for only $9 a month.

Identity thieves share several common characteristics. The most common is probably their propensity for indulging in other criminal behaviors, and no one better personifies this characteristic than Earl Simmons, better known as the rapper DMX.

So far in 2008 he’s been charged with identity theft and theft of services, animal abuse, and nine drug and drug paraphernalia charges. And, after missing another court date this week the judge has raised his bond from $25,000 to $120,000 and issued a bench warrant for his arrest.

May: Simmons’ Phoenix home was searched and investigators found starving dogs and dead dogs. As a special bonus they also found drugs and drug paraphernalia.

July: Simmons was charged with taking the identity of another (ID theft) and theft of services. These charges stem his using another person’s name and Social Security to avoid paying a $7,500 bill. He was at Mayo to be treated for pneumonia.

July: Simmons was caught driving (at high speed) while his license was suspended.

August: Another search of his home resulting in more starving and dead dogs, bringing the total to 17 malnourish dogs and three dead dogs. More drugs and drug paraphernalia found.

Also August: Simmons was arrested in Miami for failing to appear for a court appearance.

September: Simmons was extradited to Arizona and released on a $25,000 bond.

December: Failed to appear for a pretrial conference December 5. His attorney said he client was unable to attend because he’s at a drug rehabilitation clinic. The name or location of the clinic weren’t disclosed.

Simmons spent two months in Rikers Island prison for ramming his car into a gate at JFK International Airport, and then claiming to be a federal agent.

There are some services included in almost every ID protection service that you could do yourself IF you have the time, discipline and organization to do it. Fraud alerts, mail list removal and ordering credit reports can be done without charge by consumers. The catch is that you have to renew fraud alerts every 90 days with all three credit reporting agency. Credit reports should be ordered and reviewed at least every six months.

Paying for those services is a matter of convenience and the security of knowing that someone else is looking out for you.

But with LifeLock the real value is in the other exclusive services that are provided without additional fees.

When it comes to identity theft protection, you get what you pay for

The most common source of information for identity thieves is the lost or stolen wallet. Knowing that, LifeLock created WalletLock™. With just one phone call to customer service, ID theft prevention begins. With the help of security representative, all official documents are canceled and replaced before thieves can use your information.

Another common tactic is to submit a change of address for the thief’s targeted victim. When your mail is redirected, the thief has easy access to account numbers and a lot of your other personal information.  TrueAddress™ scans millions of address change requests and notifies you immediately if your name or address appears.

There are approximately 10,000 websites and chatrooms where thieves buy, sell and trade stolen identities for as little as $5 a piece. Only eRecon™ monitors those sites, continually checking for the appearance of your information—driver’s license number, date of birth, Social Security number, account numbers, etc. They’ll notify you immediately and work with you to protect your invaluable information.

Comprehensive protection requires the help of professionals. Visit LifeLock.com and use the LifeLock discount code Defense for a discount on service.