State representatives and the Orange Police Department invited all Orange businesses Monday morning to a forum on identity theft.

The Identity Protection and Safety Forum took place in the Orange Town Hall and went over ways to stop identity theft before it starts.

Police say carrying fewer items, getting RFID protection and checking bank statements thoroughly can all minimize the risk.

State Rep. Themis Klarides says identity theft can happen to anyone.

"It probably happened to a friend of yours, a neighbor of yours, and even people you don't know it's happened to, so we want people to have as much information as possible so we can try and prevent it from happening instead of fixing it after it's happened," says Klarides.