Worried about identity theft? Here are 5 steps to prevent it from happening to you

As we learn about more and more companies having data breaches, identity theft is a real concern.

You should just assume that you will be a victim at some point in your life, so we have five steps you can take now to avoid a headache later.

Consumer's Checkbook (link active until 7/20) says we need to re-calibrate how we think about identity theft.

"Assume your identity has already been compromised," said Kevin Brasler of Consumer's Checkbook. "You just have to assume right now that your personal information, your common logins and passwords, your social security number, date of birth, all that information is out there."

So be proactive instead of reactive, take measures now instead of waiting for something to happen.

"Freeze your credit with the three major credit bureaus, it's free to do, it doesn't take much time."

That's tip one: Freezing your credit prevents criminals from creating new accounts in your name without your permission.

"In order for them to do so they'd have to somehow unthaw your credit and you will be the only who has the login information the credit bureaus won't be able to do that."

Don't worry if you do need a credit check - you can unfreeze your account. The one downside is you will likely get bombarded with pitches from credit monitoring services.

"Don't sign up for these, they're junk, they're not worth your time, they can't do anything you can do yourself."

Tip two: Regularly check your credit report for any unusual activity. You can do it for free.

Tip three: Do not reuse passwords.

Tip four: Make your passwords a sentence or phrase that only you would know. A password manager can help you keep track of them.

Tip five: Enable multi-factor authentication. This is where you get a text and you have to supply it with some information, a thumbprint or some code only you know to access that account.