I was the victim of identity theft about 14 years ago from someone employed at my company. My personal situation wasn't too bad, they opened some credit cards. But other employees had their brokerage accounts broken into. In California at least you can "freeze" your credit reports which means you have to pay a small fee and unlock them with a pin code to get credit. I did that many years ago and while it's occasionally a hassle I think it is well worth it to avoid people opening credit in your name.