Beverly Butler: Hi! My name is Beverly; I am a team member at Wells Fargo & Company. There are many ways that dishonest people try to take your hard-earned money. If a person steals your identity and opens an account in your name, you may not know it until that damage is done.

There is a lot to learn about how to protect yourself financially whether you are on the phone, on the web, at the store or wherever your day may take you. According to Javelin Strategy & Research, over 11 million Americans were the victims of identity theft in 2009. In that single year, 1 in 28 people in the United States had to deal with fraud, amounting to an average of $4,800 per person and it took 21 hours of their time to rectify the situation.

The consequences of identity theft can be very serious; negative information on a credit report can impact your ability to finance a home, car or education. Identity theft can seriously damage your credit and financial reputation and it could take years to restore your good credit and name. Fortunately, there are some important steps that you can take to help make sure identity theft does not happen to you.