A report issued recently by the Internet Crime Complaint Center showed that complaints about cybercrime topped 314,000 last year, up 3.4 percent from the previous year. One of the biggest targets is smartphones.

But many experts feel that cybercrime is a much bigger problem than the numbers would suggest. The newest "frontier" for scammers is cell phones. About 83 percent  of adults have cell phones, and about 42 percent of those are smartphones. By 2012, more than 53 million consumers are expected to use mobile banking. 

Why do thieves like smartphones? Because this is one area where much information can be found amidst little security. Most people don't protect their phones like they do their home or work computers. And people use their phones in public places, using public Wi-Fi.

How can you protect yourself – and your phone? First of all, use a password, and make it a difficult one. Combine letters, numbers and symbols. 

Next, find a good backup/wiping service. A backup program sends the data on your phone to your home computer, while a wiping program can erase information from your phone if it is lost or stolen. 

Make sure you install security software, including anti-virus software. Download updates whenever needed as well. 

If your phone does go missing, call your carrier as quickly as possible to report that it is lost or stolen, and have your data wiped. Place a 90-day fraud alert on your credit reports, file a police report, and an affidavit with the Federal Trade Commission. 

Lots of people have lots of questions about identity theft. It's very likely you're one of them. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions and our best answers.

• I think I might be a victim of identity theft. What do I do? 

It's a good idea to go ahead and place a fraud alert on your credit report. It will last 90 days. You only need to call one bureau; that one will alert the other two. Monitor your credit reports afterward for any unusual or unauthorized activity. Keep an eye on your bank account and credit card statements as well.

• How do I find out if someone has opened new accounts in my name?

Order a copy of your credit report, and review it carefully to see if there are any accounts you don't recognize. If you find any, contact the creditor, report the theft and close the accounts to minimize damage. 

• Debt collectors are calling me about accounts I know nothing about. What do I do?

Check your credit reports to verify the accounts exist, and call those creditors, as well as write them, and have the accounts closed. Be sure to request copies of the application and transaction records that were used on the account. To do so, you'll need a copy of a filed police report, so make sure you contact the police and keep copies of the report handy.

• My Social Security number was stolen. Should I change my number?

This is not a good idea, as your number is no doubt tied to many documents and reports and doing so would mean a great deal of wrestling with the Social Security Administration. 

• I reviewed my credit report and found incorrect information. How can I change it?

Contact the credit bureau in writing, detailing the error. That bureau then has 30 days to investigate the error and get back to you. If an error is found, it must be corrected. If the investigation does not resolve the issue, you have the right to write a 100-word statement regarding the error, which must be added to your file. 

Friday the 13th turned out to be unlucky for Google, as the Federal Communications Commission issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture against the company.

The issue? Google's Street View cars, which wander collecting video for its site, also sucked up and saved payload data from unencrypted Wi-Fi communications. Payload data is data that goes beyond the headers of a network packet. Identified items include the network, the destination, some or all of the information like visited URLs, downloaded e-mails, text from uploaded documents and more. 

Several countries have investigated Google for this invasion of privacy. France fined Google not for the data collection itself, but for the company's failure to deal with the French privacy office's request for action in a timely fashion.

Australia called it the "single greatest breach in the history of privacy." The country's leaders agreed that Google had breached Aussie privacy law, but their laws do not provide for any action to be taken against the company.

And until Friday the 13th, Google had gotten away with it in the U.S. The FCC's issue seems to be the company not responding to the Commission's investigation of the issue in a timely manner. In its fifth notice, the FCC fined Google for "apparent liability for forfeiture" in the amount of $25,000. 

Last year, more than 19,000 reports of child identity theft were registered with the Federal Trade Commission. Child identity theft occurs when a thief obtains the Social Security number, or some other personal information, of a child and uses it to obtain a loan, get a job, or obtain government benefits, among other things. 

The really terrible thing about this crime is that it can go undetected for years – until the child grows up and applies for credit for the first time. But even though this crime is an ever-increasing problem, many parents are still unaware. Parents who are between the ages of 25 and 34, according to a recent survey, are generally familiar with the concept. Of those surveyed, 13 percent know someone who is the parent of a child identity theft victim, while 11 percent know a victim. 

So what can you do if you suspect your child is a victim? Your first instinct might be to obtain your child's credit report, but you may run into some difficulty if you try to get it from annualcreditreport.com. The federally-mandated site is restricted by the Children's Online Protection Act, which protects children under the age of 13. If your child is at least 14, you can obtain a credit report from annualcreditreport.com.

In order to obtain your child's credit report for your younger child, you will have to contact the three credit bureaus directly, because you need to provide proof of legal guardianship. If you do so and are told your child has no credit report, then it's a good thing; it means your child is safe. 

But if your child has a credit report, his or her information has been compromised, and you must take action. You can place a credit freeze on the child's records, and you will need to work with law enforcement and listed creditors to correct the fraudulent activity.

But your child may be a victim even without a credit report. Sometimes, a child's Social Security number is stolen and used, without it being reported to credit bureaus. This is most often done by undocumented workers, who are illegally in the United States, and who use the information to get work. 

But it is important to note that the Federal Trade Commission recommends not getting your child's credit report unless you are sure there is foul play. The FTC recommends waiting until your child is 16, which will give you a couple of years until your child is of age to fix any problems you might find. 

Picture this: Your son is ready to head off to college, and as part of the process, he is applying for student loans. Sounds pretty normal, huh?

But what if your son is turned down because he has bad credit – and he's never applied for credit before?

This may sound a little far-fetched, but it happens way more than you think. The Federal Trade Commission has pointed out that child identity theft is a huge problem that is growing every day, and parents are urged to do everything they can to protect their children. 

But how does child identity theft happen? Most often, thieves get their hands on the child's Social Security number, and then use the number to obtain a credit card, get a mortgage, rent an apartment, get a cell phone or apply for a job. 

The thing that makes child identity theft so frustrating for its victims is that the theft goes undetected for so long. It's often not discovered until the child has grown up and is applying for credit for the first time. By then, the criminal is long gone.

How can you put a stopper in child identity theft and protect your child? First make sure you store your child's SSN in a safe, secure place. Only provide the number to others when it is absolutely necessary, and always ask if an alternate form of verification is acceptable.

Keep an eye out for pre-approved credit card offers in the mail, in your child's name. If you receive them, your child's identity may have been compromised. You'll want to contact the credit bureaus and find out if your child has a credit report, and if so, get copies. 

If a theft has occurred, report it to the police, and place a credit freeze on your child's credit file, so that you'll be notified immediately if there is any further attempted activity. You may even wish to consider signing up with a credit monitoring or identity theft protection service, just to be sure. 

If you have even been the victim of identity theft, you know how frustrating it can be to try to recover from it. You spend hours and hours on the phone, writing letters and in general, just pleading your case. You may even have to hire an attorney to get the job done. It can be incredibly nerve wracking. 

The Federal Trade Commission has issued a report which details the results of a recent survey of identity theft victims, who were asked to talk about their dealings with the three major credit reporting agencies, as well as how they were able to exercise their rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. 

According to the survey, most said they were satisfied with their experience. But others noted there is room for improvement.  Here are the problem areas:

• Many of those surveyed said they had a hard time getting a real person on the phone when they called the credit reporting bureaus – Experian, EquiFax and TransUnion. The bureaus must address this – when you are distraught over something as big as identity theft, talking to a machine just won't cut it. 

• Less than half of those surveyed even knew they had rights under the FCRA before they contacted the bureaus. This is a general communication issue that should be addressed. Consumers should be made aware of their rights. More must be done to educate the public about the FCRA, and their rights under it. 

• Some of those surveyed said they were pressured by the bureaus to purchase identity theft monitoring services. 

Consumer education is an important component for the FTC, which works to provide an extensive educational program to help consumers understand identity theft and to provide them with the tools needed to help them not only to deal with identity theft when it occurs, but also to detect and defend against it beforehand.

If you have fallen victim to identity theft, you must take action quickly. But often, in the heat of the moment, it's hard to remember what you should do. Here are the steps you should take. Print the list and keep it handy, just in case.

First of all, contact the police and file a report. Get the police report number, and the name and phone number of the investigating officer. You will want to keep this information handy to provide to any creditors or other people you speak with regarding the theft.

You may wish to close your checking and/or savings accounts, depending on what was stolen, and stop payment on outstanding checks. You will definitely want to inform your bank or credit union, telling the fraud department what accounts might be breached. Be prepared to provide the representative with account numbers. You will want to obtain a new ATM card, account number and PIN.

You will also want to contact your credit card issuers and even close the cards you think might be at risk. When you get your statements, go over them carefully, checking for any questionable or fraudulent activity.

If you spend time and money fixing the damage done by such a theft, make sure you document everything you do, including dates and the names of people you speak with. Jot down the amounts you spend and what the expense was for also, as some states will force the theft to make restitution to the victim. You should also keep copies of all correspondence.

Call the three credit bureaus – Experian, Equifax and TransUnion – and ask them to place a fraud alert on your file. This will require that you be contacted before any new credit is issued in your name.

In a recent survey, only 27 percent of consumers really understood that their credit scores are used by lenders to measure risk. Your credit score is, in fact, a snapshot of your financial well-being, and lenders place high value on this three-digit number. Your score tells a lender whether or not he can expect repayment on your loan – if you even get the loan to begin with.

Generally speaking, the higher your score, the better your credit and the better your chances of getting a loan at a good rate with good terms. If your score is lower, well, you can expect the opposite – not-so-good rates and terms, if you're able to secure a loan at all. 

Your credit score is basically made up of these factors: payment history, amount of debt you carry, length of credit history, types of credit and new credit. About 60 percent of consumers have a credit score of 700 or higher. A score of 720 is considered good. If your score is below 700, it's a good idea to take action to raise it.

But how? The first and most important thing you should do is to check your credit report. Find out if the information shown on this all-important document is correct. If it's not, make it so by contacting the corresponding credit bureau or creditor, and ask that the information be fixed. You should do this in writing. 

Next, reduce your debt. Pay it down, beginning with your high interest items, and work your way down from there. And last of all, make sure you pay your bills on time, every time. 

Doing these three things will help set your credit back on track and raise your score. But it won't happen overnight. It will take time – but stay on course and soon you'll see a vast improvement.

It seems that everyone has heard of identity theft, yet many people still have questions about it. Here are a couple of the most commonly asked questions.

• How much of a problem is identity theft and how long does it take to recover?

Each year for the past several years, the Federal Trade Commission has listed identity theft as its No. 1 complaint. Victim losses are somewhere in the neighborhood of about $1.1 billion a year. And the FTC estimates the average victim spends about 170 to 300 hours working toward recovering after an identity theft. 

• Should I sign up for identity theft protection?

Some would say you can do the things yourself that you would pay an identity theft protection service to do, but the fact of the matter is that most people don't take the time to do those things. True, you can get a free copy of your credit report each year, but most people don't. And most just glance at their credit card statements, and are less than careful with their personal information online. 

The bottom line is simply this – protecting your information isn't rocket science. The trick is finding the time to do so, and then knowing what to do. If you aren't willing to spend the time yourself, then it's worth it to spend the money to pay someone else to do it for you. But be sure you research the identity theft protection services carefully, and make sure you know what you're getting for your money. There are things you can do on your own, but you can't watch your personal information online 24/7 – so it would be smart to find someone who can.

During tax season, it's not uncommon for people to be on the receiving end of misleading promises about lost refunds and free money. But these are scams. Scammers will attempt anything and everything in order to steal a taxpayer's personal information, and then he'll use it to file fraudulent tax returns, gypping taxpayers out of millions each year.

The IRS released its "Dirty Dozen" list of schemes used to commit tax fraud, and identity theft is the No. 1 threat. Identity theft occurs when a thief steals a person's identifying information and uses it to file a fake claim. Last year, the IRS was able to block more than $1.4 billion in fraudulent refunds. Who knows what this year will bring. 

Phishing also made the list, and is a common tool year-round. This technique involves the victim receiving an unsolicited e-mail which contains a link to a form or a fake website that is designed to trick the victim into revealing personal or financial information. 

The other dominating threat is fraud by return preparers. These phony tax experts show up each year, boasting of huge return guarantees and charging over-the-top fees for their services. 

To protect yourself, guard where and to whom you reveal your personal or financial information. If you receive an unsolicited e-mail, do not click on any links contained within it or respond to the e-mail. And when choosing a tax preparer, be sure you pick someone you can trust. You will want your only regret this year to be that your refund isn't as large as you wanted it to be.

It's getting to be a much more common thing – more and more people are signing up with credit monitoring services. And it's an action that Consumer Reports says is unnecessary. 

In a recent Consumer Reports Money Adviser report, the Adviser looked at credit monitoring services offered by the three credit reporting bureaus: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. The Adviser called the services, "overrated, oversold and overpriced."

Although the credit bureaus say that monitoring credit reports is the best way to protect consumers against identity theft, the Adviser noted that monitoring of the three credit bureaus' reports is only one way to keep an eye on one's personal information, and not the most effective way, overall. 

The fact is that no one person or service can prevent identity theft or identity fraud. The whole point of a credit monitoring service is to catch a thief in the act – once the information has been stolen, a credit monitoring service is supposed to pick up on illegal activity in the form of new, fraudulent accounts appearing on the victim's credit report. Once this is detected, the consumer can then take action to counter it. 

But if credit monitoring doesn't prevent identity theft, what good is it? Credit monitoring can be a good thing as part of a total package of protection, but shouldn't be the only preventive measure taken. Credit monitoring, in addition to identity theft protection and your own personal actions like shredding documents bearing personal information and taking great care when online, can all work together to protect you from theft. One product, on its own, just isn't enough.

Reuters broke the news earlier this month that Internet giant VeriSign was repeatedly hacked during 2010. VeriSign does not believe the attacks breached the servers that support the firm's Domain Name System network, but at this point, has ruled nothing out.

Should that particular network be breached, it could be devastating for many of the world's websites, which would allow cybercriminals to redirect users attempting to visit those popular websites, as well as infect surfers with malware.

According to VeriSign's U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing, senior management at the company were not notified of the breach by their IT team until a year after the fact. The statement indicated that IT personnel had worked to implement "remedial measures designed to mitigate the attacks, and to detect and thwart similar additional attacks."

The statement also said that given the nature of such breaches, VeriSign officials are not positive that the actions taken were enough to prevent future attacks or the future loss of information. 

Although it is commendable that VeriSign is not owning up to the breach and has, by all appearances, been open about the incident, many companies are not, often not telling the public or even those possibly affected about the breaches. Companies must strive to do better, and the federal government must step up and hold corporations accountable. Our personal and financial information is far too important to risk to save bruised egos. 

Millions of people use Facebook every day, and soon millions of people will face yet more changes within the social media – and users have no say-so about it. 

In a few days, Facebook will make its new profile format, Timeline, compulsory. The new look will present a scrapbook of your past status updates and photographs. Here's the scary part: even if you don't update your Timeline regularly, Facebook apps will do it for you. For example, if you have listened to a song on Spotify, it will appear on your Timeline. 

By all appearances, it looks like Facebook is encouraging users to share even more personal details about themselves and their life experiences, which will ultimately make it easier for others to view it. Unfortunately, this will also make it easier for identity thieves to piece together information about a person and use the collected information to commit identity fraud. 

A recent poll showed that 51.29 percent of Facebook users are worried by the new Timeline, while only 7.96 percent said they like it. 

But even so, it is not expected that the changes will cause very many people to delete their Facebook account. If past experience is any kind of teacher, most users will grumble, but then get used to the change and move on. 

Our advice? Clean up your Facebook. Re-evaluate what you share online, and share only what you want to share, being careful to choose who you share it with.