While countless Americans fall victim to identity theft every year, few know of a cost-effective way to easily protect their personal information.

Roger Napolean said he is a victim of identity theft.

Frozen Credit Can Protect From ID Theft

"They said I owed a big furniture bill in Macy's in New York, and I've never been there," he said.

Identity theft can cause years of headaches, making it difficult to purchase a home or car.

There is a little-known safeguard available that costs consumers about $30.

Connecticut is one of about 25 states that offers the opportunity to freeze your credit.

To freeze credit, consumers must send a letter and $10 to each of the three credit bureaus, and the credit becomes locked.

Credit expert Tom Harkin said he worked on fraud cases for Mastercard for 25 years.

"If anyone wants to give you a credit card or a loan, they have to check with you and you get a PIN number, a personal identification number, that you have to let them see that opens up your credit," said Harkin.

The downside of locking a consumer's credit is that it takes about three business days to unlock.

Harkins said that locking credit only stops about 30 to 50 percent of identity theft because there are so many kinds.

He advised consumers to closely watch their credit reports and to file a police report identity theft if suspected.

"Fill out a police report so at least it's on record that your identity was stolen, then you need to go to the individual creditors to explain what happened," Harkins said.

He said that victims of identity theft should stay after the credit companies to set things straight.

Experts said the average person could spend as much as 150 hours cleaning up credit damaged by identity theft. There are consumer services that help victims go through all of the steps of clearing the damage after ID theft, but charge a fee.

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