11.   As the busy Christmas shopping season kicks into high gear, police, retailers and credit card companies worry that more people will become victims of identity theft.

12.   Betsy Broder, assistant director of planning at the FTC, speculates that help will come only when businesses start marketing ways to stop identity theft.

13.   --Bolster the identity-theft law and protect victims by not allowing unpaid bills resulting from identity theft to appear on their credit reports.

14.   Biometrics can be used to secure online transactions and prevent credit card and identity theft, he said.

15.   A number of states have taken other steps to safeguard personal data, including California, where Davis signed bills earlier this year intended to deter identity theft.

16.   A statewide grand jury investigating identity theft studied the personal information available in the public domain in Florida and was shocked.

17.   Burglaries, robberies, domestic assaults, traffic accidents, credit card thefts, identity thefts, crimes from homicide on down.

18.   But as identity theft rapidly increases in the United States, so has interest by lawmakers and consumers.

19.   But our world has changed, with more people concerned about privacy leading to Caller ID, unpublished numbers and worries about identity theft.

20.   But the problem of identity theft is now such a threat that something must be done.