Last week I answered a survey about retirement savings and investments
for a group of people who were compiling this info to take to
congress. It sounded legit (and therefore, I didn't write down their
name). I refused to answer questions about the amount of my income or
savings, however I did (stupidly now I realize) give them my ss #. I
wrote to my congressman to see if the survey
sounded legit to him and haven't heard yet. My question is; is there
anything I can do to limit my risk of Identity fraud? Is id fraud
insurance worthwhile and if so can you describe what features to look
for?

If someone contacts you from a estabilshment that you have had no
prior buisness with and that you know is legit then pass on it. They
do not need your ss# for a survey. If you recieve a survey/flier or
what have you that ask for information, don't hand it out so easily,
make sure you get in contact and make sure that it is legit. Even then
don't be so willing to hand out certain information about you. I do
not mind sharing a certain amount of limited information with
corporation I can trust. For instance I get newsletters from the likes
of Mountain Dew. Once that I make sure that they actually came from
Moutain Dew than I have no problems signing up to win whatever they
seem to be offering at the moment. But I will not however supply my
real information on anything that I have neither requested nor want.
As such I have a e-mail addy for all of the stuff I don't want. But
even still as I might trust Mountain Dew I will only supply them with
limited information. So in all you just have to be careful and don't
sign up for everything that comes you way.

*Mountain Dew only serves as a example here as I don't drink pop. :D

Identity Fraud Expense coverage can be added to any Travelers
homeowners or rental policy for an additional $25 a year. It provides
$15,000 worth of coverage and has a $100 deductible. It is currently
available in 20 states.

The coverage includes: 

Lost wages as a result of time taken off from work to deal with fraud,
with coverage of as much as $500 per week for four weeks.
Notary and certified mailing costs for completing and delivering fraud affidavits. 
Fees for reapplying for loans that were declined due to erroneous
credit information.
Phone charges for calling merchants, financial institutions and law
enforcement agents to discuss the fraud.
Some attorney fees. 


http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/special/20000315.asp

There is no way they needed that info, so I would assume the worst. 
Here is the FTC's advice:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/idenalrt.htm

The website is not coming up as I write this, so use this link to
Google's cached version if you need to:
http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:crS-DBEtQ9sJ:www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/idenalrt.htm+stolen+identity&hl=en

One more thing.  Putting a fraud alert on your report probably won't
help you if they plan on trying to access any accounts you told them
about.  If you told them you had an IRA with a certain bank, you might
want to call that company to see what you can do.

Get copies of your credit reports from all three agencies NOW. Have a
fraud alert put on them ASAP. With your SS#, name, and address it is
possible to do all sorts of damage to your credit history.

Fraud alerts on your credit reports will at least keep them from
opening new accounts in your name.

These are not perfect solutions, but they will help. More information
can be found here.

FTC: Take Charge: Fighting Back Against Identity Theft
http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/

Take Charge: Fighting Back Against Identity Theft
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/idtheft.htm

Regards,
luciaphile-ga