How To Protect Yourself From ID Theft

How To Protect Yourself From ID Theft - Identity theft is a growing problem with thieves getting more and mor tech-savvy and using advanced techniques to steal and use people’s identities for all manner of things. Of course put the old-fashioned ways of stealing on top of that and you’ll see that protecting your identity is more important than ever before. Now, you are not expected to walk around wearing a mask and using code names, instead awareness is the major aspect of protection and learning about all aspects of what you can do to protect yourself and know what to do if you have been compromised. So let’s try to give you the basics and provide some resources to get you up to speed and wearing a metaphorical suit of ID protecting armor. How do thieves steal your identity? How To Protect Yourself From ID Theft Basically they get your information, or just a small piece of it to start their research through various means. Some of the ways can include : rummaging through your trash for things like bank statements, letters from important institutions and anything with your info on; using a device to skim your credit card number from places like ATM’s and card readers in the grocery store; hacking your online accounts , email, mobile phone and anywhere in the online world that has your info; tricking you into giving info over via email, fake websites or even on the phone, known as phishing ; computer viruses that can mine data from your computer; just thieving your personal items like your wallet, social security cards, passport, driving license and anything else they can use. Basically anyway they can to get personal info on you can be used to build your identity they will find a way to exploit. It can happen to any of us, any time and some of our details may have even been compromised without our knowledge. I’m not trying to freak you out, just getting you ready to take the potential seriously. How can I protect myself from the threat of identity theft? General education Just learning about some of the Most Common Identity Theft Schemes and reading through some  Identity Theft Horror Stories should be enough to get you in general terms familiar with how theft operates and what to avoid. Basically just keep alert in the real world and online! At home and in the real world First off you need to shred all your documents. You can sit there cutting them with a pair of scissors or pick up a shredder fairly cheap at Staples or through somewhere like Amazon ( Shredders on Amazon ). Next up you can make sure your mail-box has a lock on it, stealing mail is another way I didn’t mention above and a simple lock or getting mail put through your door fixes that! As for actual theft it can help to know exactly what you carry in your purse or wallet, so you’ll notice if it is gone! I would consider a chain if you carry your wallet in your pocket and if you have a handbag learn to keep an eye on it and get one with an anti-slice handle so it can’t be taken in a ‘cut and run’ theft. When you leave your home it’s also important to make sure it is secure in general. A savvy thief may be able to nip in and steal some stuff without anyone noticing. A piece of paper with certain details on it could be more profitable than any TV! When out and about you should keep your credit cards and ATM cards out of sight, look out for strange activity and learn how to spot ATM skimmers . It’s also worth trying to just be aware of your surroundings and keep your cards in sight at all times when using them. I never let a shop assistant walk off with my card. On your computer and online First off protect your computer from viruses. You must use a good virus scanner and some malware protection. I don’t know if it is enough but on windows I tend to make sure AVG free or Avast is installed along with AdAware . You need to make sure all your online accounts are safe with hard well protected passwords containing multiple unusual characters. Don’t use the same password for everything and certainly don’t use any of the 25 worst passwords of 2011 ! If you receive any emails, even if they look official, asking for details contact the organisation through official sources and tell them about it. Don’t reply to the emails! Also when visiting sites always check the address bar and make sure you are using the right place. Never share your credit card information, social security number or any details that could be used to build your id on websites that are in the public domain. Remember even your mothers maiden name, first pet name, street you grew up in and various other tidbits of info could be used as part of the fraud by a clever scammer. Some people are increasingly advising you hide your birthdate too. On your mobile phone The mobile phone is becoming an increasing target because they are holding more and more data and becoming much more like computers. So protecting them and knowing about certain Smart Phone identity theft risks is useful. It’s helpful to also know if your mobile phone has been hacked . Scammers are also going increasingly old school and calling people up pretending to be financial institutions or a recent scam involves telling people they are calling from Windows. They tell you that you have a virus and they can help you fix it, then they get you to go to a fake virus check website that actually installs bad software on your computer. Very bad! Variations on this or any calls that ask for too much information are likely scams and you should always call the company on the direct number provided on their official documentation. When windows called me it was amusing because I only have a mac! I asked the scammer what computer he was referring to and messed around with them for a while before telling them I knew what they was up to and calling the phone company to inform them of the call. Your credit reports You should always get a report of your credit from each of the major creditors each year anyway. You can get one a year for free and monitor it for any strange information. If you have any fears of a compromise of your security this should always be done right away. More on how to do that can be read here: Check your credit history . How To Protect Yourself From ID Theft….. I hope all that didn’t make you too paranoid! I am sure I didn’t cover everything so I strongly suggest that you review and read over the guidelines provided by the FTC here . If you have been the victim of theft you have to act fast and hopefully our post on What To Do After Identity Theft can help a little with that. Also hopefully some readers will leave comments of any hints, tips, advice and stories below that may be worth reading through. Stay safe, Forest.

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How To Protect Yourself From ID Theft