Change your garbage time.
Place your garbage out on the morning of pickup rather than the night before.This gives identity thieves less opportunity to go through your garbage.

Opt out of pre-approved credit card offers.
These offers, when intercepted by thieves, are filled out and returned to the company, which then sends them the card to max out on your dime. To opt out, call (888) 5OPTOUT (567-8688). Your request covers all three major credit card bureaus (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax). After a few months, you should see a substantial reduction on the amount of offers you receive by mail.
 
Be leery of individuals who rummage through your trash.
Don’t assume that someone going through your garbage is just digging for cans or fix-it-up furniture. Criminals have been known to disguise themselves as homeless people, and some organized identity theft rings hire drug addicts or alcoholics to collect items from the trash.

Johnny R. May, CPP is an independent trainer/ consultant who specializes in protecting individuals and organizations from identity theft. He is also the author of Johnny May's Guide to Preventing Identity Theft and the featured expert in the video production Identity Theft: How to Protect Your Credit, Your Money and Your Good Name.