It’s a serious crime that’s getting worse. Identity thieves are stealing people’s lives for their personal gain. Victims can suffer more than a hit to their wallet. They can have their credit score plunge with all sorts of devastating consequences.

During a TODAY Money web chat on Wednesday, Adam Levin, CEO and co-founder of Identity Theft 911 answered a variety of questions on this subject. We started with why things keep getting worse.

Adam Levin: ID theft is increasing because people over-share information on social networking sites, don’t encrypt their computers and smartphones, provide information to people they don’t know, are on databases that have been improperly accessed because government or corporate databases are not properly secured or employees click on the wrong attachment sent in a phishing email and release malware into their computers which permits unauthorized access to a hacker.

TODAY: Clearly, there’s nothing that can guarantee that someone won’t be the victim of identity theft, but there are things we can all do to improve the odds. Can you share a few tips with us?

Adam Levin: It is not preventable. There is simply too much information out there through consumer over-sharing, human error, breaches at all levels of government and business security lapses. So you need to look at the issue in three ways: 

1. Minimize your risk of exposure: Don't carry Social Security cards, don't carry your entire inventory of credit and debit cards, don't give information to people who call you - always return their call to the official number on the back of a credit or debit card, secure your computer and smartphone with the most advanced security software, shred everything in sight, never click on links that look unfamiliar, never click on pictures, never respond to charities that you don't check out

2. Engage in a culture of monitoring: Go to annualcreditreport.com, go to trusted sites where you can monitor your credit or scores free, check your bank and credit accounts daily, enroll in programs where your bank, credit union or credit card company alerts you to transactions in your accounts, enroll in credit and fraud monitoring programs if you like the price, and consider a credit freeze

3. Have a damage control program: Check with your insurance company, bank, credit union or employer if they have a program to help you through the problem. It might be free or available at minimal cost. Ask if you are enrolled, what is the cost and how you can get in.

Read the rest of the Q & A below:

AP

In "Identity Thief," Melissa McCarthy's character, pictured, steals the identity of Sandy Patterson, portrayed by Jason Bateman.

In the movie "Identity Thief," Jason Bateman plays a victim to the identity-stealing antics of Melissa McCarthy's character. He travels across the country to wrest his identity back, and hijinks ensue.

Real life rarely resembles the amusing capers of Hollywood. On the mostly unfunny side of identity theft are devastating financial consequences, including the potential to land a victim in jail.

It can even be life threatening. A recent caller to the Identity Theft Resource Council, or ITRC, related a story of medical identity theft that left him unable to fill his own needed prescriptions. The ITRC is a nonprofit that provides free counseling services to identity theft victims.

"Someone else was using his information to obtain prescriptions at a well-known national retail pharmacy," says Eva Velasquez, president and chief executive officer of the ITRC. The problem: The victim also happened to use the same pharmacy. Adding to the confusion, the interactions of the perpetrator's medications conflicted with those of the victim — meaning the medications taken together would be potentially dangerous — so the pharmacy refused to fill the victim's prescriptions.

"He was having a really hard time getting these prescriptions filled because the pharmacy was saying, 'We can't have one person taking these two medications.' Even though he was saying, 'That's not me!'" Velasquez says.

Pharmacy records mixed with a stranger's are bad enough, but the problem can be compounded if medical records are intertwined as well. Because there is no central repository for medical records, detection is hit or miss, and unwinding the problem can take some detective work.

To clear up the identity theft, "You have to contact every provider and you may not be able to figure out right away all the providers the thief went to," says Lisa Schifferle, an attorney with the division of privacy and identity protection at the Federal Trade Commission.

Prevalence of ID theft
As scary as it is, medical ID theft accounts for only a fraction of the identity theft complaints the Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, receives every year, according to Schifferle.

The agency received 279,156 identity theft complaints in 2011, 23 percent of which are categorized as "other." Medical identity theft makes up 2.2 percent of that category.

In addition, the FTC only hears a small percentage of all identity theft cases. In 2011 alone, 11.6 million adults were victims of identity fraud, according to Javelin Strategy & Research, a consultant to the financial services industry.

People whose identities were compromised in a data breach were much more likely to be victims of identity theft, according to Javelin — and those are on the rise. In 2011, there was a 67 percent increase in the number of Americans impacted by data breaches over the previous year, Javelin found.

Once criminals have a few pieces of identifying information, they may be able to sell your information, open new accounts in your name or set up an entirely new life — as you. That's what happened to one victim in California who was assisted by the Identity Theft Council, a nonprofit that organizes communities at the local level to counsel victims through recovering their identity.

That victim's identity was stolen by an illegal immigrant, who began employment under the new identity, "which created claims of fraud from both the (Internal Revenue Service) and Social Security Administration," says Neal O'Farrell, executive director of the Identity Theft Council. "The thief opened numerous lines of credit and accounts in the victim's name, which became a separate fight."

Two states, two driver's licenses and two DUIs later, the victim could no longer renew her license and had a criminal record, plus numerous tickets, to her name. And she had a new house — conveniently purchased with her credit by the fraudster.

"When the thief was finally arrested, in North Carolina, she refused to give her real identity unless she got a deal for a reduced sentence and automatic deportation —  because she knew that as soon as she got back into the country she could start all over again with the same identity," O'Farrell says.

That's the scariest part about identity theft: Once your identity is compromised, you never know what else is out there or who might have your information.

Identity theft prevention
Consumers can take steps to protect themselves. Unfortunately, much of the problem stems from businesses that ask for identifying information, such as on job applications and paperwork for doctor offices. As businesses gather and store all of this data on consumers, their failure to safeguard the financial and identifying details of consumers is essentially robbing Americans of their security.

In these days of escalating data breaches, the argument for an off-the-grid, cash-only lifestyle sounds less paranoid and more sensible. But if hanging up the credit and debit cards for good isn't on your agenda, take care with the places that you do use your cards to avoid account takeovers.

"This form of credit card fraud occurs when a thief gains access to your credit or debit card number through criminal hacking, dumpster diving, ATM skimming or perhaps you simply hand it over when paying at a store or restaurant," says Robert Siciliano, identity theft expert with BillGuard, a financial security service.

Credit card fraud accounts for the highest number of FTC identity theft complaints, at 20 percent, says Schifferle.

Other identity theft prevention steps that consumers can take to protect their valuable identifying information can be summed up in a nifty acronym from the Identity Theft Resource Council: SHRED.

S: Strengthen passwords online. Don't use the same password on multiple sites.

H: Handle personally identifying information with care. 

"Guard that personal information and don't just give it out to anybody who asks for it. Do not carry your Social Security card on your person. For child identity theft, for parents, really guard children's personal information," says Velasquez.

R: Read your credit report annually.

Consumers are entitled to one free credit report per year from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus through the website AnnualCreditReport.com.

E: Empty your purse or wallet.

D: Discuss these tips with family and friends.

Identity theft isn't on everyone's radar, but it should be. Make sure friends and family know that they should protect their identity the same way they would protect other valuables.

"When you go on vacation, you lock your house. It is the same thing with identity theft. You cannot prevent it altogether. But you can make it much harder for the thieves to get in," Velasquez says.

More from Bankrate.com

• 7 ways to protect yourself from ID theft
• Tax time is ID theft time
• 5 groups at greater risk of identity theft

You’ve filed your tax return. Now comes the happy anticipation of wondering how quickly your refund will show up – and grousing when it isn’t in your bank account quickly.

The IRS has for years faced intense pressure to make the painful process of paying taxes more palatable by at least providing a zippy tax refund. But such service may be coming at a price as the Internal Revenue Service faces a surge of identity theft tax fraud, as well as the usual tax cheats.

Some victims complain that much of the fraud could have been avoided if the Internal Revenue Service had more carefully screened the fake return in the first place.

“From a publicity point of view you’re trying to be the nice bad guy,” said Roberton Williams, senior fellow with the Tax Policy Center.

That is a tough balance, he pointed out.

"(They are) supposed to process returns very quickly and worry about the fraud aspect, and at the same time Congress is saying, 'Do it with less money,'" Williams said.

The IRS has struggled with its image for decades, wrangling with a dual role of helping taxpayers file their returns and enforcing against tax cheats.

The agency, once known as the Bureau of Internal Revenue, changed its name to the Internal Revenue Service in 1953 in an early effort to appear more customer-centric, said Joseph Thorndike, director of the Tax History Project for Tax Analysts.

But hatred is not too strong a word to express how some people feel about the agency. In 2010 a tax protester crashed his plane into an IRS office in Austin, Texas, killing himself and an agency employee. At the time a Treasury official said there were more than 1,000 threats a year against IRS employees, a figure that had been climbing.

The IRS also struggles with funding. Last year President Barack Obama sought to boost the agency's $12.1 billion budget by more than $1 billion, so it could hire more workers. Instead Republicans led a successful effort to trim the budget to $11.8 billion. 

Pressure to speed the refunds can be be intense in a soft economy, when individuals – and the economy in general – could use that money.

The IRS processed about 145 million returns last year, and three-fourths of those taxpayers got refunds. The average refund was about $3,000.

But the IRS has stepped up screening efforts to try to stop fraud. Spokesman Terry Lemons said IRS officials have identified about 2 million individual returns for review so far this tax season, out of about 84 million that have been received. That’s about the same number of returns that it reviewed in all of last year.

When the IRS does flag a return for such a fraud screen, Lemons said the delay in sending out a refund will vary widely depending on what agents find.

The IRS also has gradually increased the number of returns that get audited over the past decade or so, following a drop-off in 1998, when the IRS went through a major overhaul to focus more on customer service. It currently audits about 1 percent of all returns, Lemons said.

He concedes it’s tricky.

“On the one hand you have millions and millions of taxpayers who have worked hard and are entitled to refunds, and they should be able to get that as quickly as possible,” Lemons said. On the other hand, he said, the IRS has an obligation to taxpayers to make sure returns are checked thoroughly for potential fraud.

In testimony to a Congressional subcommittee last month, Nina Olson, the taxpayer advocate, said that although taxpayers who are victims of fraud need to be protected, so do the majority of legitimate taxpayers who rely on their refund checks.

“With the introduction of e-filing, combined with the increasing number of refundable credits run through the tax code, our tax system has shifted, for better or worse, to one of instant gratification,” Olson said in the written testimony.

Still, she noted, “The benefit of enjoying such a tax system is somewhat offset by the increased ability of perpetrators to defraud the government.”

Over the years, he said, the IRS has seemed to sway back and forth depending on the political mood and other factors, said Thorndike, the tax historian. Now is one of those times when Thorndike thinks sympathies are more with helping the taxpayer.

“This is the age of the Tea Party, at least sort of, still, and that makes people even more unsympathetic to the federal tax collector,” Thorndike said. “So it’s not a great time for the IRS to be doing anything other than emphasizing customer service.”

Is the IRS striking the right balance? Tell us on our Facebook page.

After Meghan Bach learned last year that her husband’s identity had been stolen to collect a fake tax refund, she spent perhaps 200 hours working to resolve the issue with the IRS and other agencies.

She thought she had been successful until the family returned home from a vacation this month to find that her husband’s identity had been stolen again.

 “It’s just appalling,” she said.

The IRS has acknowledged that identity theft tax fraud –- stealing someone’s Social Security number to file a fake tax return and collect a bogus refund –- is one of the most complex issues it deals with. Victims describe hours of phone calls, piles of correspondence and long periods of silence in which they aren’t sure whether their problems are being resolved or not.

The tedious process has left some victims worried about what will happen when they file this year’s tax returns.

“Of course I’m nervous,” said Dr. Vera Rosado, 33, who found out last year she was a victim and still has not been able to get it resolved with the IRS.

Rosado, a physician studying infectious diseases in Indianapolis, was recently told to file her fraud affidavit for a second time and her 2010 return for a third time after previous filings was lost. She said the IRS has told her it could take another few months to get the new paperwork processed.

She is waiting to get an approximately $3,000 refund check from last year’s return, which she plans to use toward medical board exams.

The IRS estimates 404,000 people were victims of identity theft tax fraud from mid-2009 to the end of 2011, and officials say the problem is growing.

The agency recently set up a specialized unit to just to deal with identity theft tax fraud, and it is expanding its screening process aimed at flagging this type of fraud. The issue also has attracted the attention of the some U.S. Senators. On Tuesday, a finance subcommittee held a hearing on the matter.

The IRS said it could not comment on specific cases such as Rosado’s and Bach’s because of privacy laws.

Experts say the IRS is working hard to root out identity theft tax fraud in the approximately 140 million tax returns that come in each year. But some believe the problem will get worse before it gets better because it will take time to train staff members to root out and deal with such issues.

“For the next four to five years it’s going to be a learning curve for everybody across the country,” said Jay Foley, a partner with ID Theft Info Source.

Foley said one issue is that IRS employees who aren’t part of the identity theft unit may not know how to handle such complaints. That’s why they might audit tax forms instead of use them in an investigation, for example, or not file paperwork correctly.

He recommends that anyone who is a victim of such fraud work directly with the identity theft unit and also contact the Taxpayer Advocate, an independent agency charged with assistant taxpayers who are having problems.

Foley said the bad news is that there is little people can do to shield themselves from such fraud attempts.

“There’s absolutely nothing that can be done at this point in time that’s going to give you a guarantee of safety,” he said.

Bach, a real estate agent who lives in San Diego, found out her husband had been a victim of identity theft tax fraud in March 2011, when she tried to file their taxes and learned that someone had already filed a return using her husband’s name and Social Security number.

Over the next year, she said she spent several hours each week working with the IRS and other government agencies to get the fraud resolved on behalf of her husband, a military doctor.

At one point, she sent the IRS summaries of her past 10 years of tax returns in order to prove that she and her husband were the true taxpayers. Instead, she said, the IRS audited one of those returns and presented her with a bill for nearly $900.

She paid that bill, then successfully contested a later IRS attempt to audit another past return she had provided to prove her family’s identity.

Eleven months later, the family finally got its refund for the 2010 return and she figured the issue had been resolved. But a few weeks ago, they returned from a Disneyland vacation to find letters from the IRS that had been addressed to her husband had instead been sent to an address down the street that had recently been used as a rental. The mail had been returned to the post office and redelivered to Bach.

One letter, sent to the other address, was informing the family that they had once again been victims of tax fraud for the 2011 tax year. The second letter said that a refund of more than $10,000 was being applied to an existing balance of more than $12,000 that the letter said the family owed the IRS.

Bach said the family had not yet filed their 2011 taxes and was not scheduled to receive a $10,000 refund for the year. They also did not owe the IRS any money – in fact, after their fraud had been resolved, she said the IRS had sent them a refund for 2010 with interest.

Bach surmises that the fraud might have occurred at the address where the IRS correspondence was sent. She doesn’t know if the IRS sent any other correspondence to that address.

Bach and her husband immediately went to the local IRS office to get the address issue corrected. In addition, she said she has left multiple messages with the IRS identity theft case manager she has been working with but has not heard back. She plans to file her real 2011 tax return this week.

Bailey Yahraus, 30, found out four years ago that her husband and young children’s Social Security numbers had been used to file a fraudulent return. The couple got it resolved, and for the next couple years they used a tax filing service to file their returns with no problems.

This year, Yahraus decided to file her return herself using an online tax service. That’s when she found out that her children’s Social Security numbers had already been used by someone else claiming them as dependents.

Yahraus, who lives in Montpelier, Ohio, has been trying to figure out how she can keep the Social Security numbers from being used fraudulently again. She’s worried about what effect the ID theft might have on her kids when they become adults.

But after a rough few years in which both she and her husband lost their jobs and got new ones, she hopes to shield them for now.

“They’re 8- and 9-year-old boys,” she said. “They’re worried about baseball, basketball (and) football.”

Related:

IRS faces surge in identity theft tax fraud