identity theft

Ways to protect yourself from identity theft

When it comes to identity theft, there are many things that you can do to protect both your good name and your hard earned credit. Thieves cannot get your information unless you supply it to them. The best way to prevent identity theft is to simply protect your information. The thieves aren’t really getting smarter, we’re simply asking to have our identity stolen with some of the ways we handle our personal information. To avoid having your identity stolen, you must simply learn how to better guard your personal information.

Don’t Carry Sensitive Information
Sensitive information such as your credit card numbers, social security number, and bank account numbers should not be written down and carried with you where ever you go. Those things are supposed to stay in the home, in a safe place. Of course you should carry your credit card with you, but try to limit the number of credit cards that you carry just incase you lose your wallet or purse.

There is no need to carry around your social security card unless you know that you will need it on a specific day. If you haven’t memorized your social security number, take it out now and memorize it. Once thieves have a hold of your social security number, they only need your address to start opening accounts. By carrying your social security card in your purse or wallet, you simply increase your chances of becoming a victim if your wallet is ever lost.

Limit File Sharing Folders
File sharing sounds like a fun and innocent thing to do but it can also be an open invitation to having your identity stolen. A lot of people simply don’t specify which folder they would like to share with others, thus leaving sensible information available to anyone at anytime.

If you use some type of file sharing program, make sure that you specify which folder you want to share. Do not store documents that contain your name, address, social security number, banking information, or credit card numbers in your shared folder. You will not believe the number of people accidentally leave their entire hard drives open to millions of people.

Clean Your Computer
Before you get rid of your old computer make sure that you do one simple thing, erase the entire hard drive. A lot of people simply throw away their old computers without destroying sensible information. If an identity thieve gets a hold of your old computer, they can simply search the hard drive for social security numbers, addresses, banking information and more.

The safest thing to do before getting rid of a computer is to format the entire hard drive(s). By formatting the hard drive, you erase every single file that is stored on the disk. Make sure that you format the hard drive once you are sure that you will not need the information anymore, or once backups have been made on the new computers.

Limit Information on Checks
Checks are very convenient; they allow you to move money without actually handling cash. But checks can also be a good way for your information to be stolen. A lot of times, people write their social security numbers on the back of the checks. If have the habit of doing this, please stop now! Writing your social security number on the back of a check increases the chances of your identity being stolen. Remember that you are not the only person who will see or touch that check; many people will see and handle your check before it is deposited into your account.

Watch out for Phishing Emails
Scammers are now using emails to try to get your personal information. Phishing is the act of tricking someone into giving them confidential information or tricking them into doing something that they normally wouldn’t do or shouldn’t do. I’m pretty sure that you have received a phishing email at one point or another. Once you click on the link in the email, you are taken to a fake website that looks exactly like the authentic. When you fill out the form, your information is sent to the scammer and boom, you become a victim.

People fall victim to this everyday. Scammers continue to send out these emails because they are very effective. Remember that almost no company will send you an email asking you to change your password. If you are in doubt, never click on the link that’s in the email. Always visit the site directly from your browser. If the message is true, you will be reminded when you sign on.

Protect Your Pin Number
Don’t do what a lot of people do. The worst thing to with a pin number is to write it down. Pin numbers are short for a reason, so that you can easily remember them. Don’t carry your pin number in your wallet or anywhere on you, and best of all, don’t write it on the back of your card. Yes, many people do that.

If you take these simple precautions, you will greatly decrease your chances of becoming a victim of identity theft. Your personal finance and information is vital. Protect it well and you won’t have to worry about someone opening credit card accounts in your name.

identity theft

How NOT to become a victim of identity theft

Identity theft is everywhere. It can take the form of someone purchasing an item using your credit card number, applying for credit in your name, or impersonating you when pulled over by a police officer. It is not hard to see why. Think about how many times you are asked to give out your social security number (SSN). In addition to your creditors such as the mortgage and credit card companies, your doctor’s office has it, your phone company knows it, and your employer has got a record of it. How do you safeguard this information?

The first thing to do is to limit the number of times you give out your SSN. You must give out the information to those who extend you lines of credit and those who employ you. You do not necessarily need to give it out to utility companies or cell phone providers. In exchange for not giving out your social security number, ask if you can pay an upfront deposit which will be returned to you when your contract expires. The deposit is usually in the amount of one or two monthly payments. While being treated for a medical condition, in addition to providing evidence of insurance coverage, you will often be asked for your SSN. You are not required to give out this information. The hospital can not refuse to treat you. Also, do not put your SSN on job or rental applications if you are not sold on the job or apartment. Wait till you know for sure that you are 100% committed. Finally, another way to prevent your SSN from circulating is to buy a shredder and shred any sensitive information prior to putting it out in the trash.

Another potential gold mine for identity thieves are those preapproved credit card applications and access checks. A thief who gets a hold of these offers can get credit with your SSN, birthdate, and then input any address or phone number they desire. Access checks are an even easier target for identity thieves. They don’t require the thief to have any personal information on their potential victim. One way to prevent this is to shred preapproved credit cards once you receive them and arrange for your mail to be forwarded prior to a move. To prevent access checks from getting into the wrong hands, call your credit card company and ask them not to send any out.

Most importantly, be vigilant. In addition to following the recommendations outline above set up an online account with your credit card companies. This allows you to monitor your credit card activity for unauthorized activity daily and even hourly for the more obsessive-compulsive.

identity theft

Avoiding Identity Theft

Identity theft is in the news a lot these days. It is a rapidly growing type of crime. It can damage your credit and it can cost you lots of time and money to solve the problems that identity theft can create. Fortunately, there are a number of steps that you can take to protect yourself from identity theft. The first step in avoiding problems is making sure that your personal financial information doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. Beyond that, you also want to make sure that no one has got your information without your knowledge and are trying to do something illegal with it. Here are ten tips to help you avoid identity theft:

1. Protect your Social Security number. If a criminal gets their hands on this, they can use it to access other information, like your credit report or bank accounts.

2. Shred old financial data. Everything from bank statements to pre-approved credit card offers can be misused by criminals. Shredding everything will prevent this.

3. Get off of mailing lists. Every time you find yourself on a mailing list request that you are removed. This is especially important for credit card offers and the like.

4. The Direct Marketing Association’s Mail Preference Service and Telephone Preference Service are the services used by banks and other marketers to get your contact information. They have name-removal services that you can request.

5. Only carry the identity cards and credit cards that you need. The more you have on you, the more chance there is of losing a card. Leave the cards you don’t need in a safe place.

6. Make photocopies of all your credit cards and identification. Copy both the front and the back of each card. Put the copies in a safe place. This will help you in case you lose your wallet.

7. If you are mailing checks, take them right to the post office. If you leave them in your mailbox to be picked up they can fall into the wrong hands. A criminal can modify a check easily.

8. Look over your credit card statement and bank statement every month to make sure that there are no unexpected or unexplained charges on them. Follow up with any discrepancies immediately.

9. Be careful who you give your credit card information to over the phone. Be sure that you are giving it to someone you trust or the information can be misused.

10. Use a credit report monitoring service. It will let you know if someone applies for credit in your name. If it isn’t you, you can follow up immediately.

identity theft

Dealing with Identity Theft

One of the biggest challenges we face in this new age if technology and instant communication is identity theft. Unscrupulous people are always trying to get your name, your social security number and your birthday. Once they have that information they can apply for credit under your name. Other identity thefts will even try to get your bank account information and PIN number or your credit card information and use that also. If this situation happens to you there are a number of things you should do to protect yourself immediately.

1. Call your bank and credit card company - As soon as you know or even suspect that you are a victim of identity theft call your bank and credit card companies. Let them know what has happened. In many cases they will cancel your cards and issue you new ones. Otherwise, they may just keep an eye on the activity in your accounts to make sure that nothing suspicious happens.

2. Look at your bank and credit card statements - Even if you don’t know that you have been a victim, you can easily spot it by looking at your statements as soon as they arrive in your mail. If there are any charges which you did not spend yourself or which look suspicious, then contact your bank or credit card company right away so that they can investigate them. If you contact the companies as soon as there is a problem they are very happy to deal with you and solve the problems without adversely affecting you.

3. Contact the credit bureaus - Once you know you have been a victim you should contact the credit bureaus immediately. For a small fee you can put a credit freeze on your file in most states. This means that no one will be able to apply for a loan or credit card even of they have all of the correct information because companies will not be able to access your file. You can have the freeze in place for as long as you feel you need it. Just because you have a freeze on your account, though, doesn’t mean you can’t access your file if you want to apply for credit yourself. You will be given a PIN number and you can use that number to bypass the freeze and access your file as you need to while still barring access to people who aren’t you.