OKLAHOMA CITY -- Thousands of Oklahomans reported having their identities stolen in 2005, according to a recent report.

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One metro woman hopes her nightmare with identity theft can be a lesson to everyone else.

Two years ago, somebody became Becky Pennington Moore, at least in the eyes of creditors. They opened accounts, ran up bills and ruined Moore's credit.

"I opened this (bill) up, and it said it owed $4,033," she said.

According to a book published by the Federal Trade Commission, Oklahomans were ripped off for millions of dollars in 2005. One person even reported getting scammed out of $1.8 million.

The book indicates that 2,403 Oklahomans reported their identities stolen last year. Oklahoma City led the list with the most identity thefts reported, followed by Tulsa, Edmond and Norman.

Moore was able to clean up the mess left by identity thieves; however, she now keeps a two-inch-thick folder full of receipts and credit cards that are in her name -- accounts she never applied for.

"The only things that really bothers me now is when I want to open up an account, and they say, 'Woops, you've already had an account here,' and I have to explain, 'No, I don't,'" she said.

The No. 1 complaint of consumers who reported identity fraud was online auctions, such as those managed by eBay. Also near the top of the list are prize and sweepstakes offers, as well as the foreign money scam, which has been perpetuated via e-mail for years.

Moore said that she's diligent now, but it's not that she was careless before her identity theft. For example, she's always shredded her documents before throwing them away.

She said she also pays a company to notify her any time somebody looks at her credit report. However, the effect of having her identity taken stays with her.

"If I'm going to go purchase something, I say, 'By the way, my identity was stolen, and these are the places that were affected,'" Moore said.

Consumer fraud cost Oklahomans nearly $5 million last year.