This year, someone made three separate purchases on my credit card within minutes of each other at a Wagga service station totalling, from memory, about $40.

I don't know what the purchases were, but I can say - hand on heart - it has been quite some years since I was out and about at 5am on a Saturday morning.

What's more, my credit card was safely tucked into my wallet at the time, so goodness knows how they did it.

I noticed these transactions the next time I logged into my bank account and one quick call to the bank later the money was on its way back to me and a new card was in the mail.

So, apart from the minor inconvenience of having to memorise a new 16-digit card number, four-digit expiry date and three-digit card verification code (I had to google what it was called), it was all sorted with little fuss.

Two previous occasions of fraud - once when I was travelling overseas and once after a domestic holiday - were identified and rectified with equal speed.

I think the easy fixes made me complacent.

But then you read stories like that of Wagga woman Hayley (naturally she was a bit shy about giving her full name) and realise how much worse it could have been.

For Hayley, the theft of her identity turned into a drawn-out ordeal that threatened to have permanent ramifications for her financial situation.

A simple phone call to her bank could not resolve this mess that had been thrust upon her - it needed the police to get involved.

I don't think I'm alone in taking my identity security for granted, but maybe I shouldn't.

Perhaps learning some lessons from Hayley and the tens of thousands of other Australians each year who fall victim to identity theft could save me a lot of trouble down the track.

It's certainly something to think about.

All the best for the week ahead, Ross.