Preventing Identity Theft
Identity theft is a serious crime. It occurs when your personal information is stolen and used without your knowledge to commit fraud or other crimes. Identity theft can cost you time and money, destroy your credit and ruin your good name.
Deter identity thieves by safeguarding your information.
■ Shred financial documents and paperwork with personal information before you discard them.
■ Protect your Social Security number. Don’t carry your Social Security card in your wallet or write your Social Security number on a check. Give it out only if absolutely necessary or ask to use another identifier.
■ Don’t give out personal information on the phone, through the mail, or over the Internet unless you know who you are dealing with.
■ Never click on links sent in unsolicited emails; instead, type in a web address you know. Use firewalls, anti-spyware, and anti-virus software to protect your home computer; keep them up-to-date. Visit OnGuardOnline.gov for more information.
■ Don’t use an obvious password like your birth date, your mother’s maiden name, or the last four digits of your Social Security number.
■ Keep your personal information in a secure place at home, especially if you have roommates, employ outside help, or are having work done in your house.
Defend against ID theft as soon as you suspect it.
■ Place a “Fraud Alert” on your credit reports, and review the reports carefully. The alert tells creditors to follow certain procedures before they open new accounts in your name or make changes to your existing accounts. The three nationwide consumer reporting companies have toll-free numbers for placing an initial 90-day fraud alert; a call to one company is sufficient:
Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
Experian: 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742)
TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289
Avoid scams!
All spam emails/unsolicited phone calls/letters and faxes are scams.
As a general rule – ANYTHING involving Western Union/money gram = Scam.
If you sell stuff online.. Accept Cash or paypal only.
If you buy stuff online.. Use Paypal only.
Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is! NEVER(ever) give out your personal information to strangers online or offline! Do not click on a link embedded within any potentially suspicious email. Always be on
guard.
Security Alert- Protect your PC by updated spyware, virus protection and firewall. Change your passwords on a regular basis, and use passwords that use at least 8 characters that mix numbers and both lower and upper case letters (harder to hack).
Everyone says “sign your cards because matching your signature is a good way to verify that the owner of the card is the person using it”. Nobody ever asks to see the signature on my card when I charge something. At most stores, you scan the card yourself. The cashier never even touches the card. For that matter, you can charge anything online with just the card number, expiration date and security code. Signing the card is still a good idea, but it will hardly prevent ID theft.
Signing is not secure enough !
There is no way you can 100% protect yourself from ID theft. The predators can be employees at large institutions like banks, government offices, tax offices, utility companies and even the ones who issued your social security card or driver’s license. Who knows?
I agree with Cameron, most of these leaks are done internally at institutions that store our personal information. A lot of the other stuff should be common sense now.
I do still love reading about my dead great uncle in Africa that has left me his fortune, providing I send them money to release the check. Funny stuff.
Another security measure is to have 2 computers. 1 for messing around and another for all your serious stuff like your financial information etc.
Great tips on protecting your idenity. There is so much fraud on the internet and everywhere these days. You can never be to careful.
Identity theft are really annoying since we belong to this modern world quote in quote. One can easily assume identity through electronic motivations and hacking government highly classified and protected information. Its scary that you are somewhere sitting but someone is already assuming you are him or her. Laughs! =)
Identity theft has only gotten worse, now, I heard that someone can walk up to you, and retreive yoru credit card information electronically. I only heard about that because supposedly there is a new invention that blocks these signals. I was a victim, I caught it quick enough though, I had 2 charges from itunes, and I do not have an iphone, the key here is to always check your credit report and your bank account, to make sure nothing suspicious is going on.
Thanks for the advice. I didn’t know about the “fraud alert.” Very helpful.
-Jane
Identity theft is definitely getting worse now that so many people use credit cards to shop as well as more people are shopping online. You really need to be careful and monitor your accounts as well. Great tips that people should follow if they want to lessen the chances of being a victim of identity theft.
Nathan @ Debit Consolidation´s last [type] ..Will Debit Consolidation Affect My Credit Score
You should prevent theft…..these days internet is the only way through which you can be a victim of identity theft…take care.
Thanks for this advices, we really need to be careful with regards to our personal information. With the advancement of technology, identity theft really arises and this issue must be taken seriously. Although there are laws about this crime but still we can prevent it personally just like by following your advices.
I think identity theft has become an ever increasing crime. And no matter what we do, we can expect our-self to be a victim to it, if not directly then indirectly
I realize that the identity theft crime is increasing day by day and there is no one that can stop it or there is nothing that can be done to stop it for ever. But thanks for the advice and i will tell more people to look in to it.
Business records of any kind should never just be tossed into the trash or recycling bin where they can become a bonanza for criminals intent on identity theft; instead, all business records that you no longer have a use for should be shredded. Businesses that operate out of small and home offices can buy inexpensive shredders at any office supply store; for businesses with volumes of material to be disposed of, there are shredding services that will come and do what needs to be done.
Very nice post. You share a very useful tips that’s are very helpful and useful for a lot of people. Thanks for sharing helping tips.
Your computer network needs to be password protected, of course, so that anyone who wanders through your office can’t just access your network. But you also need to consider issues of internal network access. Does every employee need to be able to access programs or databases that may contain sensitive information? Password protect these, too, and grant access on a “need-to-know” basis to help cut down identity theft.
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Identity theft is a huge problem these days. All it takes is one person to get a hold of you SSN and they can have a field day with your credit. Trust me, the hassle of clearing up your credit after something like this happens is NOT a fun process!
-john
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Identity is the most important thing for anybody. Everybody should take care/preserve it. Without your identity it is not possible to do anything.
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Any kind of ID is the most important thing that if you lost it you have to suffer for it because you will need it at every time. Even you go for a new utility line utility company/authority will ask for your ID. So preserve it in a safe custody. If you loose it inform the police immediately.
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Thanks for the article. It is really a scary topic. Someone had recently figured out my debit card numbers and actually bought a bunch of video games form my account. But I got it all sorted out.
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Nice tips . These things should be taken care of to avoid any kind of identity theft.
You must always be alert. I know one day I was driving home and received a phone call saying that my Visa Debit Card had been compromised. The automated call then asked me to enter my debit card number. Luckily I knew NOT to do this b/c my bank should have my number. I went directly to the bank…and they told me that obviously someone was trying to get my acct info.
Most identity theft occurs by people you know! Many people don’t realize it. The most common form of theft is people you know (or welcome into your home) stealing your information from documents around the house.
Get a safe or locked desk drawer and keep all of your sensative documents in it. Shredding the dcouments on disposal, as the post mentions, is also vital.
Change your passwords on a regular basis
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These advices are quite useful and i am glad that you have shared these with us. I am looking forward to share them with others too. Thanks for posting.
You are absolutely right. Most of these leaks are usually done inside at institutions which store our personal information. However, identity theft is truly frustrating as we feel right but one can easily suppose identity through electronic inspirations and slashing government extremely classified and confined information.
Awesome blog,you have added a new angle to it all, keep up the good work.
Actually a legal signature can be almost anything, even just a simple “X” so that whole area becomes a little grey.
Security Alert- Protect your PC by updated spyware, virus protection and firewall.
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well the chip and pin system in the uk doesn’t use signatures but i don’t know how much this has stoped fraud
some great advice here, many thanks
certain procedures before they open new accounts in your name or make changes to your existing accounts. The three nationwide consumer reporting companies have toll-free numbers for!!
fraud is everywhere now a days. We should use guards and security measures for safety. There are many scam emails and websites doing wrong jobs.
Precuations in every respect is important in now a days. Good topic chosen for discussion.
As technology increasing the negative use of technology also increased. So we must have to think about the precautionary measures so that we can protect our important and vital information and data. Nice topic to be discussed.
As a commenter mentioned earlier, I believe most of the identities are stolen by employees at institutions, or apparent ‘legitimate’ online businesses. That happened to me. However, PASSWORDS are the areas that many people are vulnerable. Find a good system, and stay up on password protection!
(i messed up my previous comment, oops) As a commenter mentioned earlier, I believe most of the identities are stolen by employees at institutions, or apparent ‘legitimate’ online businesses. That happened to me. However, PASSWORDS are the areas that many people are vulnerable. Find a good system, and stay up on password protection!
Although I am very careful about what I “click” online, I know that sometimes you simply cannot prevent people from stealing from you.
As for online shopping, I have made a prepaid card that I use only when I shop online. I never use my “regular” cards and I never put more to this card than I want to spend. In this way, even if somebody steals the number, they won’t have much use of it.
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Well,I’m pretty much cautions in sharing my personal information specially online. Keeping them private as possible is the best way to avoid identity thief.
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This has been really good advice. Im gonna try and implement some of these tips.
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