Maybe I’m too much of a softie, but sometimes I find myself looking for ways to forgive some companies for embarrassing data breaches that expose our data to thieves.

But it’s hard to forgive an organization like the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) whose entire focus is supposed to be on security and yet they still mess it up.

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I guess one of the reasons that identity theft is still the nation’s fastest-growing crime is that it can happen anywhere, even when you’re traveling. All it takes is a creative identity thief and a careless traveler.

And many times, the travelers don’t even need to be that careless. You may have read about a series of identity thefts in Illinois late last year when employees, managers and even the owners of several well-known hotels were charged with identity fraud. In a scheme designed to steal guest identities using their registration and payment information, multiple arrests were made.

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A few days ago I wrote about how the credit bureaus had to finally get behind the new credit freeze laws now available in dozens of states.

That prompted an email from a reader who wanted to know if a credit freeze is the same as a fraud alert. And I thought it was a pretty good question that seems to confuse a lot of people.

There is a major difference between the two: a fraud alert is essentially a note that you attach to your credit report, through a credit bureau, that alerts any potential creditor that you may be the victim of identity theft and that they should confirm your identification before granting any new credit in your name.

A credit freeze is designed to prevent anyone from getting any credit in your name. For creditors to grant new credit they first have to do a credit check on your report, and a freeze blocks that. No credit check, no new credit.

If you want to allow a specific creditor to run a credit check on your behalf (because you want to apply for a new credit card or a car loan), you’ll need to “unfreeze” your report using a PIN or password that will be provided to you when you first initiate the freeze.

Hope that clears up any confusion. More to come.

The other day, a family friend proudly boasted of the multiple layers of security he had installed on his computer (partly on my advice) to keep hackers and Identity thieves at bay. He then made a comment, that with all these layers of defense in place, he can now sleep better knowing his identity is beyond the reach of thieves.

When I asked him how often he patched his computer in response to newly discovered vulnerabilities and Identity theft scams, his blank stare told me my work here was not yet done.

I guess he must have just taken the advice that suited him, because as I’ve been saying for years, your computer is not the only way hackers will try to steal your identity. In fact, countless studies have shown that many if not most identity thefts don’t involve a computer or even the Internet.

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A recent story reinforced for me that as consumers we should not only be checking our credit reports but also any other source, like our Social Security statements, that might uncover a thief.

In this case the victim knew someone else was using her identity because she had just been informed that because she was already working (in another state) she was no longer eligible for free housing.

But when the cops pulled over the alleged thief for speeding in February, they discovered a hoard of information in the victim's name.

The stash included:

- A Kohl's Department Store charge card.

- Three Victoria's Secret store cards.

- One Chase Bank debit card.

- Two JC Penney store cards.

- An Old Navy credit card.

- A credit union card.

- A Sam's Club card

- And some Delta Dental cards.

The victim later found out that the thief, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, had been filing tax returns in her name since 2002.

I think five years is more than enough time to do at least one thorough check on your own identity and on as many resources as possible. Don't just rely on your credit reports.